Badge of Dishonor
by Hetalia Red
Summary: Alfred Jones is locked away for a crime he didn't commit against his twin brother and is sent away to a prison institute that is owned by his adopted father, Arthur. Gilbert, his cellmate, offers him protection from other inmates. Can the two learn to trust each other enough for a relationship to grow. PrusAme, also some FrUk, Ger/Fem-Ita, and other pairings.
1. Gilbert Beilschmidt

The Kirkland Institute of Sex Offenses. Already the name doesn't sound too cheery. However, that is the place that Gilbert had spent two years of his sentence. The place was started up by some British-American criminal psychologist, Arthur Kirkland, in order to rehabilitate people convicted of sex offenses. Every day, Gilbert would see the British guy during group therapy or even during lunch to observe his little pet projects. The guy isn't too hard to miss either. Just look for the guy with the fuzzy eyebrows and that's the ring leader to the freak show.

The place divided its inmates depending upon their offenses by having them wear a particular colored shirt. Most people including Gilbert, when he first was brought here, was shocked that a sex offender is classified depending on risk, but the concept is apparently nothing new to the system from what Gilbert had heard. The main purpose of it is to divide people based upon their offenses and "room up" people with similar offenses or colors as they would say.

The blue shirts are a required uniform for the least harmful individuals in this entire joint. They are required for people who had been convicted of possession of child pornography (or another similar computer crime) or people who had been convicted of statutory rape. It's really sad for Gilbert to see a guy in there, because they got caught having consensual sex with their 16 year old lover. He felt that type of individual shouldn't be here in the first place.

Pink shirts were for people who were convicted of sex offenses against children. The reason why they were separated into their own little group was because someone in a black or a red shirt might not think twice about getting into a physical fight or even raping someone who is a known pedophile.

Gilbert hesitantly glanced down at the red shirt that he was forced to wear as if the red shirt was going to jump up and strangle him at any moment. Red shirts were for people that that were convicted of sexual assault. The shirts were for the kind of people who didn't take "no" for an answer and forced someone (or a couple of other people) to have sex with them.

Gilbert then shuddered when he had thought about the people who wore black shirts. They were the kind of people that would make news headlines. They were the worst of the worst in here. They were the serial rapists or sexual sadists. Just being in the same room with them was enough to make the albino break out into cold sweat.

Gilbert glanced down at the cute stuffed animal that was in his hand. His brother had won it at a fair in Berlin when they were kids and had given it to him as a gift. Gilbert had named the Gilbird and always kept the stuffed bird with him. If the staff even knew what the certain significance of the bird was, they would've possibly had it taken away from him.

Prussia slowly got up from the cot and went to towards the steel door. Usually around this time, prisoners were allowed to roam within the corridors, the lunchroom, the weight room, the library, or one of the activity rooms. Being able to walk free at certain times of the day within the hallways was a privilege within the system. A privilege that could be taken away if an inmate breaks the rules or if a lockdown happens.

Gilbert just kept his head down and glanced side to side at the guards who kept watch over the area. One of the guards was an intimidating tall Swedish man who spoke little and referred to a Finnish guard as his "wife," much to the Finnish man's dismay. "Evening Beilschmidt." The guard uttered to the German.

"Evening sir." Gilbert uttered back and continued his walk towards the library. Instead of being given numbers, the staff referred to inmates by their surnames. Inmates even had their names printed on the back of their shirts to help identify them. According to Arthur Kirkland, this purpose of this was to treat inmates as individuals. Gilbert had met the man a few times before outside of group therapy. After he had checked out his book, he walked back to his room.

"Beilschmidt, please sit your arse down." A voice within the room commanded, surprising Gilbert. Gilbert looked towards the empty dorm area on the other side of the room. Each of the rooms comes with two dorm looking areas for inmates. The rooms would contain a cot, a dresser, and a desk and chair. The British man sat on the empty cot with his arms and legs crossed quite effeminately, much to Gilbert's amusement. The blond British man wore a forest green business suit, a white business shirt, and black leather oxford shoes. The presence of the owner of the institute was alone to demand attention from other inmates.

"I wasn't expecting you here," Gilbert sat down on the cot, leaning against the Prussian flag on his wall. _I wonder what the bastard wants now._ Gilbert grimaced and then asked, "May I ask why you're here?"

"A couple of reasons of reasons actually," The British man spoke irritably as he tried to maintain his composure. Gilbert noticed that Arthur was pissed about something, but didn't dare to ask what it was. Gilbert held in his breath in anticipation of what the British man was going to say. "First of all, how have you been coping with what happened?"

Gilbert exhaled slowly and glowered at the question, "I haven't talked to mein Bruder since before the trial that I was found guilty in. He wants nothing to do with me. I'm pretty much dead to him as far as he cares. I even heard from my cousin's wife that Ludwig had even threatened to cut my testicles off when I get released. Does that answer your question?"

Arthur nodded curtly, "yes, I suppose it does. You know, you should open up more in my group therapy sessions and in your one-on-one sessions with Elizabeta. Your anger towards the situation is quite noticeable and unhealthy." The German groaned loudly, which made Arthur furrow his eyebrows. "It would help you accept the changes that your offense brought to your victim and your loved ones and help you to deal with them."

"Fine," Gilbert groaned again, burying his face in his hands. There was an uneasy atmosphere between the two men after that. Gilbert didn't want to talk to Arthur any further and Arthur was trying to find ways to talk to Gilbert in a way that doesn't cause the German to go backwards with the progress he had made.

"Good," Arthur replied, getting to the next order of business, "you're also going to be getting a new roommate soon."

"Really?" Gilbert asked, trying to control his emotions from his outburst about being asked about his brother. Gilbert suspected that they've either received a new inmate or that an inmate was being transferred to his room. Whichever it was, Gilbert knew that the person he was going to be rooming with another "red shirt."

Arthur's smartphone had rang and Arthur quickly answered it, greeting the person on the line, Matthew. After a brief moment of listening to Matthew on the phone, Arthur promised the person to be present for his next hockey game. Arthur quickly excused himself and went out into the hallway.

Gilbert had lain down on his cot, gazing at the cell and cuddling Gilbird. His thoughts were on his brother and what his brother could be doing right now. He wondered what kind of job his own brother has now. He wondered if Ludwig was living in a nice house in the suburbs with a privacy fence and his three dogs. His gut twisted into knots, imagining if his brother had a lover or a spouse. The thought of his brother finding a nice girl to slow down with lead to the thought that Gilbert could be an uncle right now without even knowing it. Undoubtedly, his cousin Roderich and his wife would keep information like that hidden from him for some reason, unknown to the albino. His brother was 20 years old when Gilbert had been arrested and is now 23 years old. Gilbert was four years older than his own brother and had always protected Ludwig from harm up until that one night.

"Sorry about that," Arthur quickly shut the steel door and sat back down in his usual spot. "I usually keep my phone on just in case someone is having a problem with an inmate."

"Was that your son on the phone?" Gilbert had wondered.

"Yes, it was." Arthur answered. "I adopted him when he was a child. Anyway, I've got other things to attend to. I just wanted to tell you the news. Your roommate should be in during the evening time."

"Good to know." Gilbert replied, nonchalantly. "By the way, what's my new roommate's name?"

Arthur's scowl returned, "His name is Alfred F. Jones." Arthur spat the name out as if it was curse.

* * *

So, that's chapter one of this story. I had gotten the idea for this story after watching a documentary about a particular institute in California and I've also wanted to do a mentorship/romance between America and Prussia for a while. Hopefully you all enjoy the story so far

Mein Bruder – my brother


	2. Alfred F Jones

The blond stared at the Institute unenthusiastically as he was being led towards the building by guards along with a handful of other inmates. The concrete exterior of the building was dreary and lifeless. The building looked like most of the other containment centers for criminals without any windows and with a wilting landscape. Alfred snorted; of course Arthur would be too cheap to pay for a decent gardener.

The guards led him towards the fence and one of them pressed their ID card towards the ID scanner of the building. The prison building was surrounded by guard towers and the 22 foot mesh anti-climbing fencing. The gates were unlocked automatically and closed once the inmates were inside. The group was led to another group of guards that was clad in a similar type of uniforms. The patches on the uniforms had a rose in front of scale which was the logo of the institute. The words that were etched into the patches read "Kirkland Institute Security."

Alfred watched as the inmates who were in front of him had their bags taken and was patted down. After a few minutes Alfred's own bags were taken. "You'll get the back later," one guard had explained. The guard started to pat the youthful blond down. Alfred blushed when the guard's hand brushed up against his groin and his buttocks. Even though it was a standard procedure, Alfred still felt uneasy about the whole thing.

One of the guards called for Arthur Kirkland to let him know that the new inmates had arrived. The inmates were led inside of the building. The only windows in the building were at the front of the building and most likely were bullet-proof Plexiglass.

The group past by the Chinese male secretary and was led towards Arthur Kirkland who was surrounded by three guards. Alfred tried to get Arthur's attention, but was ignored. Alfred sighed, believing that he would get a chance to catch up with Arthur later.

However, Arthur cleared his throat to address the group. The inmates had lowered their voices when they heard Arthur address them. "Hello, my name is Dr. Arthur Kirkland. In case any of you are a bit dull-witted, I'm the owner of Kirkland Institute of Sex Offenses and I'm also a group therapist here. You are all here to serve your time for your sentences and to get rehabilitated."

Arthur pulled a stack of packets from his old, worn out brief case that he was holding at his side. "You will do well to remember that rules here. Any attempt to break the rules would result in privileges being taken away, being sentenced to isolation, or receiving more time in here. You all would be required to follow the schedule on the packet precisely. Any late attendances or skipping out on therapy sessions would also result in a loss of privileges. Since you arrived here rather late, you would all need to head straight to your rooms with your new uniforms. You all would be given a pack of particular colored shirts to wear. You're allowed to wear any particular styled slacks with your shirts, as long as it is appropriate." Arthur gestured towards the table where the shirts were "Go ahead and line up to get your new uniforms."

After watching Arthur leave to go towards the possible direction of his office and getting his uniform, Alfred glanced down at the paper with his new room number. He was led by a cheerful fair haired guard towards his room. "You've got a roommate, kyllä! He's not too bad. He is a little mouthy and rebellious, but he's alright." Alfred noticed the accent the guard had, but couldn't figure out what country the man was from. Alfred quickly put on one of the shirts from the package they were in and entered inside of the room.

The door was closed behind Alfred, leaving him in the room with his new roommate. He glanced nervously at the albino, wondering if the guy was safe to be around. Alfred sat on the empty cot, never taking his eyes of the other man. The man looked eccentric looking to say the least. The man's white hair was messy and stuck out in certain places. The man's ruby eyes stuck out compared to his pale white skin and white hair. The man had an impish expression on his face, almost as if he was plotting against the blonde. The man wore a red uniform t-shirt like what Alfred was given, an iron cross necklace, black jeans, and red sneakers. `_This freak is my roommate?'_

"What are you staring at?" The man asked, quirking an eyebrow. Alfred avoided his gaze and muttered that he was not staring. "Anyway, what bought you in here, blondie? You're obviously in for raping someone over the age of eighteen."

Alfred's eyes widened as he turned to the albino. "How the fuck did you know that?"

"Your shirt, dumbass." Alfred glanced at both of their shirts questioning. "It's for people who have gotten charged with sexual assault. You don't look much older than 20 years old. So what did you do blondie? Did you force your prom date to suck your dick?"

Alfred glared, "that's not what happened. Besides, I didn't even go to prom, you dick!"

"If that's not what happened, then why are you here? Did you and a couple of your buddies gang rape somebody?"

"No," Alfred was getting irritated at the questions. He sighed and accepted the fact that nobody was going to believe what actually happened. The judge didn't believe it and neither did the jury. The one person who he had wanted to believe him, his own twin, probably didn't believe him either. "I was found guilty of drugging and raping my own twin brother. There, happy?" This was the lie that Alfred was going to have to use to telling.

"Wirklich?" Gilbert smirked. "I was also found guilty of raping my own brother as well. I've been here a couple of years already."

"That's lovely," Alfred collapsed into the pillow on the cot, hiding his head in his pillow. Alfred had no idea why the guy smirked at what he was charged and convicted of. His charge was a serious matter to him. He was supposed to be Matthew's hero, but ended up being the villain, because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "I don't think I can stand to live with my conviction for very long. Even when I do get out of here, I'll just be another goddamn sex offender in a shitty fucking neighborhood. The worst part of it is that I don't even know how my own fucking brother feels about me now. Does he hate me now? I don't even think I could look him in the eye again."

Gilbert walked up to the blonde and leaned towards him, placing one of his hands upon Alfred's back, consoling the despondent male, " it's going to get easier, Piepmatz." Alfred flinched at his touch. Gilbert wondered if it was because of his offense or if it was because he was a stranger to the late-teen. Gilbert ignored the flinches and continued to try to sooth the younger man. "Trust me; I was in the same spot as you were when I first came here as well." Gilbert wasn't sure why, but he felt a strange need to comfort and protect the younger man, almost as if he was a brother to him. The fact that he also felt the need to call the blond a couple of pet names made Gilbert wonder if he was already becoming emotionally attached to a person he didn't even know.

"Don't you dare compare me to you!" Alfred spat out at the other man. "I'm nothing like you, so don't pretend to know me!"

Gilbert threw his arms up in defeat, "alright, but you're going to need someone like the awesome me to protect you in here, Piepmatz. This isn't the fucking boy scouts. This is a prison for sex offenders. You're a young, tan, 20 year old blond young man that looks like a model from a fashion magazine. If some of the guys in here cross your path, they might try to force you into doing some things to them."

"You mean like how you are going to force me to do nasty shit to you as well," Alfred glared at Gilbert again, accusingly and added, offhandedly, that he was only 19 years old, not twenty.

Gilbert sighed, "I'm not going to rape you –"Gilbert glanced at the name on the package. "-Alfred Jones, I just want to help you, whether you believe me or not."

"Whatever, Billy Idol," Alfred threw off his red tee shirt as well as the tank shirt underneath it, wrapping himself up in a blanket.

Gilbert snorted, "Actually, my name is Gilbert Beilschmidt." Gilbert went back to reading his book, which he stopped reading when the younger man entered the room. This was going to be a new hassle for him, Gilbert already seen it coming.

Kyllä – Yes

Wirklich? – Really?

Piepmatz – Birdie


	3. Batman and Robin Friendship

Gilbert had woken up due to the activity outside. Prisoners were shuffling outside to get to wherever they had to go. Gilbert wiped his eyes from the specks that formed at the corners of his eyes. After he had gotten up and relieved himself in the bathroom, he was faced with a certain unexpected shock from across the room.

The walls on Alfred's side of the room were filled posters and computer copy paper printouts. The side of the room was wall-to-wall images of super heroes, aliens, cars, horror movies and video games. Images of Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and various other superheroes were on Alfred's wall. Alfred even had images of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Gilbert had even seen a poster of a flying saucer with the caption: "I want to believe."

"Mein Gott," Gilbert started to crack up. He hasn't seen anyone with this many super hero junk. Alfred's space looked a lot more like bedroom area of 13 year old then an actual adult's. _And Alfred's supposed to be 19 years old?_ Above Alfred's cot were an alien plushie that sat perched upon a pillow was a digital clock. The time was 8:42 am.

Gilbert cursed loudly. He already missed shower and changing time and was missing breakfast. Gilbert rushed towards his dresser and quickly pulled out some clothes to begin the day in. Gilbert quickly removed himself of his clothes and pulled his boxers up. He almost tripped when he yanked his pants up. After getting a fresh shirt on, he rushed out of the door.

When he reached the cafeteria, his eyes scanned the area. He found his friends Francis and Antonio sitting together at a table and waved at them. Francis was another person that was required to wear a red shirt around and Antonio had to wear a pink shirt. The three were known for causing Arthur grief during the first year of their stay. Most of their pranks on Arthur involved juvenile antics including streaking through the hallways, having spray paint cans smuggled in to write obscene messages about the institute owner, and even glued Arthur's porcelain unicorn collection to tiled floor of the showers. After Arthur had sentenced the three to a month in isolation, they stopped their pranks and the institute owner nicknamed them "The Bad Friend Trio" in response to their antics.

Gilbert looked around to see if he could find Alfred next. He turned right and started shaking when he found out who Alfred was casually talking to. _That damn idiot! Hasn't he ever seen the news or know what a black shirt even means? _Out of all of the people in the cafeteria to talk to, Alfred chose to talk to Ivan Braginsky. Back when Gilbert was still a free man, he recalled a news report where the Russian man was caught. In the report, Ivan was quoted saying that his victims were "mean" to him when they tried to go home from his house and Ivan whipped, tortured him with a pipe, and raped them to punish them for his hurt feelings.

Gilbert's mind raced, trying to think of ways to pull the blond away without the Russian getting suspicious of him and avoid getting on Ivan's bad side. He tapped Alfred on the shoulder, coming up with an idea, "Uh, Alfred?"

"Yeah? The blond grinned at Gilbert, lazily waving at Gilbert, scarfing down his last pieces of bread, trying to give his orange to Ivan. The Russian politely refused the orange, smiling that damn creepy child-like smile of his.

Gilbert grinned back at Alfred, blushing. He noticed that the blond was extremely handsome. He didn't notice it the night before, but seeing the blond up close and in good lighting had made Gilbert's heart melt. Alfred was the type of guy that Gilbert had found attractive; blond, blue eyed, toned without looking freakishly muscular. Gilbert quickly tried to banish the thoughts from his head. Prisons and institutions like the Kirkland Institute was no place for those types of feelings.

Alfred offered his orange to Gilbert and the albino took it, thanking him. "Anyway Alfred, I accidently spilled soap onto your stuffed alien on your bed. You might want to put him in the prison wash when you wash your shirts." Best awesome idea Gilbert had ever thought of this week. The albino grinned internally on how convincing that lie was.

"What? What did you do to Tony?"Alfred yelled, aghast. "That's my favorite thing in the world, you bastard!"

Gilbert didn't know whether to find it amusing or sad that Alfred was acting like he killed one of his relatives over one stuffed animal. "Just follow me," he commanded, leading Alfred out of the cafeteria and back into their shared room. Alfred stomped like a 5 year old throwing a tantrum all the way there. Gilbert suppressed a laugh at the show.

Gilbert set the orange down on his own dresser and went across the room to pick up the toy alien from Alfred's bed, "see, I didn't do anything to your precious Tony! I just wanted to talk to you for before you did something stupid."

Alfred swiped Tony from Gilbert, and hugged the alien to his chest. "What are you talking about? I was just talking to Ivan about making bottled rockets."

"Ja, I noticed." _This kid really is an idiot. _Gilbert grimaced. "So do you even know what he was even charged with?"

"Well?" Alfred thought a moment. It couldn't be too bad. Ivan didn't seem like a bad guy. However, neither did Gilbert, but Gilbert was convicted of incestuous rape. "He seems like an okay guy. He is just another rapist like everyone else in this shithole, right? Who do you think you are that you can dictate who the fuck I talk to in this joint?"

Gilbert grabbed up his orange and sat on his bed with it. He peeled the orange with his thumbnail and taken a bite out of it, never taking his gaze off of the naïve blond, "the difference between a black shirt and a serial killer like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, or Fritz Haarmann is that the people who wear black shirts in this joint never murdered their victims. However, they still stalked their victims and did horrible things to them. It would be completely unawesome if you became the damn Russian's next "sonnenblume."

"No, he didn't call me that, but he did say that I looked like a sunflower," Alfred shrugged, "besides I can take care of myself, but since you're so insistent on having my back, you can my sidekick! You can be the Robin to my Batman!"

Gilbert held his tongue and nodded. Sure, Alfred was pretty nuts and reckless, but he had to admire the youthful adult's spirit. Gilbert was willing to humor him if that meant that Alfred would exactly listen to him, "well, birdie. I'm going to tell you of the different shirt colors, so that you can make new alliances much easier. If I'm not mistaken, isn't it a part of the super hero code to know who your allies are?"

"You're right," Alfred nodded, "it is important for one to know his bros."

Prussia continued, "Right, so . . . Blue shirts are the safest to be around. They're the guys who downloaded something onto their computers that they shouldn't have or the ones who that got into trouble for an underage teenage lover. I already explained to you about the guys in black shirts. Red shirts like us are so-so, just be a bit cautious around them. Pink shirts, uh pedophiles, are also safe - around adults like us. Children on the hand are not safe around them, but a child in this place is as common as a vegan in a butcher shop, so I wouldn't worry about that."

"I'll keep that in mind," Alfred yawned.

Gilbert glared at him, "I'm glad you find what I have to say so interesting."

"It's not that. It's just that I'm not used to waking up this early. I like to sleep in until noon." Alfred grinned, sheepishly.

Gilbert glanced at the clock and grabbed Alfred's hand, "well, you're not sleeping in, today. I like to get to group therapy before anyone else and you're coming with me!" Before Alfred could protest, he was dragged down the hallway towards an empty room. The chairs of the room were set up in a circle, facing each other. "This is the place." Gilbert announced to Alfred.

Alfred nodded and flopped down on one of chairs, "ah, this chair is actually pretty comfortable."

"Hey, that's my usual chair. Get your own!" Gilbert exclaimed.

Alfred grinned, "This is my chair now. Finders, keepers!"

"Oh yeah?" Gilbert grabbed the back of the chair and rocked it back and forth, trying to get the blond out of it, "you've got to fall off your perch sometime, birdie. Kesesese!"

Alfred eventually fell out of his chair and landed on his butt. Alfred yelped in pain and shot Gilbert a look. _That's it! _Alfred pulled Gilbert unto the floor with him. Alfred wrapped one of his arms around Gilbert's neck to get the albino into a headlock. Gilbert switched positions on him and the two wrestled for a few moments longer. Gilbert's knees slid outward and the weight of his pelvis pressed against Alfred's. The nineteen year old yelped again from being squished by Gilbert's weight.

The position their bodies were in was a very amorous-looking one. With Gilbert on top of Alfred, between the younger man's legs and with both of them being within eye level of one another, it would be quite easy to for someone to mistake their position as an intimate one. Both men were too sore from wrestling each other to move.

"Alfred?" Gilbert finally spoke, "are you alright?"

The other man quietly nodded, waiting for the pain in his groin to subside. Both men looked each other in the eyes, getting lost into the pools of color. Gilbert's eyes where the colors of the red gems in Alfred's video games and comic books. Alfred's eyes were the colors of a deep ocean that Gilbert had seen on the plane ride with his younger brother to the US when he was a teenager. Both men were in a deep trance from one another.

One voice broke the two out of their trance, "what the hell are you two wankers doing on the floor?"

* * *

Mein Gott – My god

Sonnenblume - Sunflower


	4. Paper-thin Formality

Chapter 4: Paper –thin Formality

"Well?" Arthur tapped his foot, impatiently, waiting for the two to answer, "You two can answer any bloody time before group therapy starts. I'll have the two of you know that I run an institute here. I don't run a bleeding nightclub."

"Put a cork in it, Iggy," Alfred retorted back, pushing himself up after Gilbert rolled over to the side. "We both just fell, believe it or not."

Arthur's lips pursed, "I'll also have you know right now, the same kind of lip that you've given me throughout the years isn't going to happen here. Either you obey the rules here and respect your elders or you or Beilschmidt are going spend some of your free time in the cafeteria making food for the other inmates. You're not home anymore, so start acting proper for once!"

Gilbert watched the scene in amazement. The formality between the two was paper-thin. He had never heard Arthur talk that way to any other prisoner before. Well, maybe Francis, but that was beyond the point. The way he lost his temper with Alfred and the way he said Alfred's name before the blond even arrived suggested that the two knew each other personally and that there was quite a bit of bad blood between them.

Arthur sighed and sat down in his usual spot. Alfred took Arthur's lead and sat as far away from Arthur as possible. Gilbert grabbed the chair that he and Alfred wrestled over earlier and moved it to where he would sit by Alfred, shoving back the other chairs that were by Alfred's. He looked from Alfred to Arthur's. The tension was high in the room. The way Arthur and Alfred made it a point to point-blank ignore each other before group therapy reminded of those movies where two bitter protagonists sat at opposite ends of a dining room table, shooting death glares at each other. Yeah, the scene in front of him was almost a mirror image of those movies.

Arthur finally spoke up trying to keep himself from yelling again, "Jones, how have you been adjusting to the institute?"

"I've been doing fine," Alfred huffed, playing with the hem on his shirt. There was one question Alfred was dying to ask Arthur, but knew that Arthur would never tell him the answer to. Alfred had felt alone in the world. He had nobody to depend upon now except for Gilbert and he barely knew the man. He had been an orphan since his twin brother and he had been six years old. The twin boys had gotten adopted when they were eight years old. However, since he had gotten charged with raping his brother, none of his adopted family wanted anything to do with him.

"I've noticed that you taken quite a liking to Jones, Beilschmidt." Arthur remarked, curiously, "any reason for why that is?"

Gilbert stared at the British man. Gilbert was wondering what he was insinuating. That he, Gilbert, was using Alfred as a replacement for his younger brother? He certainly hoped that's not what the Brit was thinking.

Sure, Alfred is around the same age as his brother was before the mess. Both of them are blond, blue eyed, in shape, and extremely awesome. However that's where the similarities ended. Despite the physical differences such as Alfred having wheat blond hair and his brother having pale blond hair, the two couldn't be more different. Ludwig was quiet, serious, shy, and studious with a book always in his hand. Alfred, on the other hand, was eccentric and boisterous to the point where Gilbert wondered if Alfred was ADHD.

"I just think he's awesome. Is there a problem, Dr. Kirkland?" The worst part of the insinuation was that it seemed that Arthur was implying that he would also rape Alfred. It was as if Arthur viewed Gilbert as nothing more than a mere animal controlled by his own lustful desires with no consideration to Alfred's own thoughts and feelings. Sure, he screwed up that night with Ludwig, but that night was an extremely terrible mistake he made that he did not wish to repeat ever again. The Brit didn't answer Gilbert's question.

The next person to come in was Francis Bonnefoy. Of course, Francis had to waltz into the room as he was some kind of runaway model. From what Gilbert had heard from the Parisian, himself, Francis was once a respected member of high society in both France and the United States before he got charged with rape.

Francis had mentioned numerous times of the expensive food he had eaten, the expensive wine he had drunken, and all of the beautiful men and women he had in his bed. Gilbert was inclined to believe him. Francis wore expensive clothing along with his red uniform shirt. Clothing that cost more than Ludwig's house, despite Arthur's warnings that some prisoners might get the bright idea to rob the man, which had happen a couple of times.

As for why Francis is in here at the Kirkland Institute, Gilbert heard that Francis did have an expensive private lawyer. However, due to the overwhelming evidence that was complied against him, Francis was still ordered to serve his time in the US at the institute.

Francis sat down next to the institute owner and leered at him, "oh, Rosbif, have you thought about allowing my Clive Christian cologne to be shipped here. I haven't worn it for ages. Also, I can't deal with the generic shampoo here!"

"Tough luck, frog," Arthur felt France's foot tap against his own, but decided to ignore it. He was already fuming at Alfred for how much hell Alfred dragged him through these last several months. "Cologne can be used as a weapon here and some inmates also use cologne as a cheap high. So, I'm sorry if you have to smell normal for several years."

Francis groaned, "This is completely inhumane!" Francis refused to talk to Arthur for several moments, before adding, "So, what did you think about my proposal to offer you free cooking lessons when I get out of here? You need them desperately."

"Yes, I've thought about it," Arthur nodded, nonchalantly. "–And my response to you is to sod off! It's inappropriate for me for me to have relations with my clients, despite the fact that you and I have met at the senator's house before your crime."

Francis' face twisted with barely contained laughter, "you mean the same house where you got the senator and half of the other people at that party sick with food poisoning due to your disgusting cooking?"

"I would appreciate it if you would quit talking about that around other inmates. They don't need to know about that" Arthur mumbled, face beet red.

Alfred chimed into the conversation, still sullen from the fight Arthur and he had, "I didn't know you two knew each other." Francis and Arthur both answered quickly that they did, without another word.

It wasn't news to Gilbert that Francis and Arthur knew each other. Francis mentioned it a couple of times to him before. Some might regard the news as bizarre that some prisoners knew the staff personally here. However, it was just something that had happened. It wasn't exactly planned and the staff didn't treat the people they knew personally any different than other inmates. Well, besides the tiffs between Arthur and France that sometimes occurred. He knew that Antonio knew the bubbly female Italian art room coordinator, Feliciana. In fact, the Hungarian counselor that Gilbert has to meet after lunch is the wife of his snooty Austrian cousin. _–And Alfred knows Arthur. _Gilbert made a mental note to ask Francis about that after group therapy was over.

When the rest of the group of inmates entered, Gilbert noticed that Ivan Braginsky took a seat right at the other side of Alfred. That damned Russian was back and was sitting next to Alfred again. Gilbert tried to calm himself down, he already warned Alfred about Ivan. Gilbert hoped it was enough for Alfred to get the hint to be cautious.

"Yo, dude!" Alfred grinned at Ivan, a bit hesitantly. The large Russian waved back at Alfred. The person next to Ivan was Ivan's Belarusian younger brother, Nikolai Arlovsky, who wore a black shirt just like his older brother. Gilbert shook his head, how could two brothers close in age commit similar crimes in two different states without being partners?

Then Gilbert reflected back on what Ivan and even Nikolai disclosed in part group sessions. The two, along with their older sister, was born to a poor heroin junkie. Ivan's mother had gotten pregnant from three different guys who supplied her with heroin. Due to their mother not using protection, the siblings' mother had given birth to Ivan, Nikolai, and their older sister. As strange as it may be, all three of their fathers were a different ethnicity as well. Ivan's father was a Russian man. Nikolai's father is Belarusian and their older sister's father was Ukrainian.

As if those conditions weren't tragic enough. After Nikolai was born, the three siblings' mother had gotten into a fight with a Mongolian man over drug money and lost her own live when the Mongolian man had shot her. The same Mongolian man had also kidnapped Ivan and abused him. Gilbert had a funny feeling that's probably when Ivan lost his own sanity.

Ivan's siblings gotten adopted by relatives. His Ukrainian sister got adopted by loving paternal grandparents and Nikolai got adopted by an abusive aunt, which probably led to the Belarusian's own insanity.

To this day, Ivan still would not tell anyone where his former caretaker was. Whenever someone had asked him, the Russian would chuckle darkly and tell them that the Mongolian just disappeared. There was no way to prove otherwise, but the Mongolian most likely met a grisly end.

Knowing all of this, Gilbert could kind of understand how someone like Ivan ended up the way that he had. However, that was half of the issues that Ivan had to deal with. Ivan's sunflower obsession and his obsession with blond guys that he referred to as "sunflowers" started when a young blond Russian Orthodox priest took care of Ivan after the Mongolian "disappeared" and before the Russian was reunited with his sisters. The young priest died unexpectedly due to insulin shock for refusing to get his insulin shots for religious reasons. Now Ivan is in the institute for torturing and raping "sunflowers" that reminded of the dead diabetic priest in his home country.

Despite the fact that Ivan and Nikolai were both sexual sadists, they couldn't be any more different. Ivan was convinced that he really did love all of his "sunflowers," but they had betrayed him. While all of Ivan's victims had been male, all of his younger brother's victims had been female. His younger brother raped and tortured his victims with his knife collection out of hatred. These two have also based their opinions upon gender on the fact that that they were abused. Ivan hated men exclusively, except for his "sunflowers." The Belarusian was almost as misogynic as Ivan was misandric. Once Gilbert had been put into isolation, because he gotten into a fist fight with the Russian. The Russian had threatened castrate him and was dead serious about his threat, claiming that the German would've "deserved it" just for being male. Yes, over a characteristic that the German was born with and couldn't control, but good luck telling the insane Russian that.

Those two siblings reminded Gilbert of a two-toned brown and black dog his parents owned that was attacked by another black dog when it was a puppy. The puppy grew up and growled and attacked other black dogs, no matter what breed or size of the other dogs were. To think that humans shared more common characteristics with animals then they believed that they did.

Ivan listened to Arthur, though. Gilbert wondered why this was. Did Ivan see the institute leader as a "sunflower" too? Gilbert neither knew nor cared about the answer to that. Learning the backstories of other inmates was a guilty pleasure of his, something he did when he was extremely bored.

Arthur had called the group into order. Arthur briefly discussed some business that was unrelated to group therapy. The German found that particular part of the group boring, so he nodded off, pretending to listen. Arthur then announced that they would revisit what crimes brought them to the institute in the first place.

_Verdammt, I'm not looking forward to this. _Gilbert groaned. Normally he could care less what everyone in the group thought, but Alfred was different. He was afraid that Alfred would reject him for having incestuous feelings towards his own brother. Despite the fact that Alfred was also convicted of raping his brother, Gilbert was certain Alfred would view him as an unclean, perverted freak.

Gilbert held his breath as the different inmates. Kiku didn't understand US statutory rape laws and lived in a state where it was legal to date a 16 year old. However, the Japanese man went into another state with his lover where it wasn't legal and was caught by security when he took his lover to a bookstore. Eduard, the Estonian man in a blue shirt, was a college student that was convicted for running a child porn site. Eduard was only in it for money apparently and the pictures on his site were provided by other users.

Antonio and Francis were next. Francis was in for getting drunk and going too far with a woman who didn't consent to the act. Antonio's crime was pretty self-explanatory. He messed with a child he was babysitting and had gotten caught by the kid's parents. Gilbert was sweating profusely when Nikolai and Ivan had discussed their crimes. He noticed Alfred looked a bit fearful when Ivan had discussed what he had done to his sunflowers.

Gilbert rubbed Alfred's back to help calm him. The blond smiled at him. Gilbert knew that sweet smile was probably going to fade soon. It was his turn to discuss his crime and he was nervous about doing so. Gilbert ran his hands through his own hair, making his hair wilder than it already was. "I –I had incestuous feelings for mein bruder, my brother, since we both lived in Germany after our parents abandoned us. I had to take care of Ludwig after that despite the fact that I'm only four years older than him. When we came to America as teenagers, the feelings didn't go away. One night when Ludwig was 20 years old, I drank too much vodka and forced myself-"

Gilbert had to stop for a moment, if not; he knew that he was going to get too overwhelmed to speak again. He felt Alfred lightly patting his arm, a gesture of kindness. "I forced myself upon him. I can't forget the way he looked at me afterwards, full of hatred."

"Do you still have feelings for him, Beilschmidt?" Arthur had asked him.

Gilbert really didn't know the answer to that. "In some ways, I do. He's still my own brother. The one that I taught to shave and drunk beer with ever since we were teenagers. As for any sexual feelings that I may have for him, I think I'm doing okay with suppressing them. I haven't thought about him sexually for several months now."

"In a way, you're always going to have those brotherly feelings for him. I'm not asking for you to change that, but you need to work on knowing how you are going to deal with the fact that Ludwig may not want to see you after you get released." When Gilbert nodded, Arthur continued, "are you going to try to refrain yourself from alcohol when you get released?"

"I'll definitely keep as far away from vodka as I could," Gilbert never wanted to even look at vodka ever again, "however, I'm not giving up beer."

Arthur sighed and turns towards Alfred, whose expression was unreadable to the albino. "Jones, it's your turn. Why are you here?"

"You already know why I'm here," Alfred turned from Gilbert to Arthur. Arthur glared at him, which caused Alfred to change his mind about being defiant towards the institute owner. He decided to tell the lie again, just so he can get out of the system sooner that put him in the institute in the first place. "I was arrested for raping my twin brother Mattie. I drugged him with some stuff a weird guy had given to me at a high school graduation party." The truth was that he had a clue that he own brother had been drugged when he seen that Mattie was unconscious on the bed in one of the rooms of the house and seen the blood on the bed. "I used a condom and threw it in one part of the room." Alfred didn't know that his brother's actual rapist left no physical evidence until he was questioned by police for it. "I cleaned him up with wet rags in the bathroom afterward, because I couldn't stand to see him like that." That was the truest statement of the whole false confession. Tears formed in his eyes when he was forced to remember the terrible night that changed both of their lives. Alfred stood by his own innocence until he was found guilty. That's when he realized that no one cared what the truth was.

Arthur had found Alfred's version of what happened to Matthew a bit vague for some reason. It was almost as if Alfred was either holding something back or that he was lying about something. Arthur wondered if Alfred would open up the next sessions they had together or if Alfred was intimidated by the Brit being there. Whatever it was, Arthur wanted to get to the bottom of it. "Sessions over for today, have a good day, everyone!" Arthur's next group therapy session with another group was after lunch.

Gilbert bolted out of the room, with his hand covering part of his face. He knew that Alfred wouldn't talk to him again. Why would he? Alfred got to hear about how he had raped Ludwig after pining after him for years.

The hyperactive blond trailed after him, "hey Gilbert. Wait up! I need to ask you something."

"What do you need, Alfred," Gilbert stopped and turned towards the younger male. He had hoped that Alfred wasn't going to discuss Ludwig with him.

The other man was clad in his Superman pajama pants and red t-shirt, looking a bit embarrassed. "I was going to ask you if you could come with me in the showers. I wasn't able to go shower earlier, because I was afraid of being alone with a bunch of strange dudes."

"I'm a strange "dude" though," Gilbert smirked at him, his mood lightening up a little.

Alfred fidgeted with his hands a bit, "yeah, but you're a bit different though."

"Alright, I'll come with you. I slept in, so I need to take one as well if it's okay with you." Gilbert was a bit wary of taking a shower in the same room as Alfred. He wasn't even sure what his feelings were of the blond yet.

Alfred grinned. "That's fine by me."

* * *

I want to thank the people who read and reviewed this story so far. You guys are pretty awesome. Also, I'll try to be mindful of the occasional mistakes I make when writing more chapters for this story and any other story I would write in the future.

Rosbif – Roast Beef, is also a nickname for British people

Clive Christian cologne – An actual expensive cologne brand. On Ebay, one of the bottles was listed as being almost 800 USD and apparently the brand could cost even more that.

Feliciana – Female Italy. There is actually a good reason why I made him female in this, but I'm not going to spoil the surprise ;D

Nikolai Arlovsky – Male Belarus.

Verdammt – damn


	5. Self Control

And here he was. Gilbert was standing outside of the shower room with Alfred at his side. The two stopped briefly in their room to get some soap and shampoo. Gilbert had flagged down a couple of guards and explained to them that neither he nor Alfred was able to get a shower this morning. The two guards were understanding of their situation and unlocked the door to the shower room.

"You know, birdie. You are going to be showering with the most awesome, sexy person in this place," Gilbert grinned playfully at the blond. A little lighthearted flirting once in a while never hurt anyone, right?

Alfred grinned, "What? You mean me?" Alfred pulled off his shirt as if he was putting on a show. Alfred quickly tossed the shirt unto the table without folding it. The table in the shower room was put there for that particular purpose, so that inmates' clothes didn't get soaked or kicked around while they were in the shower. Although inmates did have to worry about the occasional theft of their clothing, so it was always a good idea for inmates to keep an eye on their own clothing. Gilbert figured the nineteen year old was just showing off.

"Nein, you're number 2 on that list. I'm still number one on that list. Just because your new creepy Russian friend thinks you're number one on the list, it doesn't matter it true. Kesesesese!" Despite his words, he couldn't take his eyes off the blond. Alfred's tan torso was in physical perfection. The nineteen year old American's body was starting to grow out of its adolescent appearance, but the kid's body had a few years before it reached maturity. Gilbert pulled his own shirt and neatly folded it upon table.

"Oh, shut up!" Alfred rolled his eyes as he started to pull his pajama pants down off of his body and tossed it haphazardly unto the table. A few chuckles came out of Gilbert. Alfred watched as Gilbert removed the rest of his clothing. The white haired male's pale body was overloaded with scars of varying lengths. He wanted to ask Gilbert how he had gotten that many scars, but he held his tongue on the situation. He didn't want Gilbert to know that he was kind of checking him out. Alfred's eyes travelled lower past the albino's belly button down to the white pubic hair.

_Why does he have to be bigger than me, damn it! That's not fair! _Alfred quickly averted his gaze from the albino's body. After he removed his underpants and his glasses, he turned on the shower and waited for the water to hit him. A couple of seconds later, a stream of water pelted against his body like shards of ice. Alfred shivered and wrapped his arms around his own torso in an effort to regulate his own body temperature. Alfred was used to taking hot showers, so the slightly cold water was a bit of a shock. "Why the does the water feel so cold?" Alfred whined, shivering.

"The water feels fine," The other man in the room shrugged, "you're probably just not used to it." Gilbert wondered what Alfred's life was like before prison. So far, besides the naivety and the kindness Alfred displayed, the nineteen year old seemed a bit spoiled to the 27 year old. He would've guessed that Alfred lived in a quant suburban neighborhood where his only worries were if he would've passed a test or something mundane as that.

Gilbert grew up in "constant survivor mode" as he called it. Even when his parents were in the picture, Gilbert had to learn at an early age to survive and take care of his younger brother. If he even took a moment to relax at the time, it would've spelled trouble. The criminals in Berlin that were after his and Ludwig's parents wouldn't have thought twice about putting a young innocent kid in a coffin. If was almost as if Gilbert grew up just to end up spending quite a few years in prison. However, he ended up in a prison-like institute for hurting the one person he ever had in his life.

Gilbert didn't feel envious of Alfred, despite their possible different backgrounds. A kid like Alfred was easy prey in a place like this. Criminals took advantage of them in places like prison. In prison, most of the time, they were used as human shields for the Mr. Big types to do their yellow-bellied tyrant's bidding.

Before the Kirkland Institute, Gilbert had to spend a year in prison when he was Alfred's age where he witnessed that type of appalling behavior. What landed him in prison was when he put his Austrian cousin, Roderich, into the hospital. Gilbert doesn't even remember how the fight gotten started, but he remembered his anger getting the better of himand remembered beating the brunette male with a metal baseball bat. Compared to the prison he had to go to, Kirkland Institute was a much safer place. However, an inmate could still get robbed, get into a physical fight or something much worse if they are not careful in Kirkland Institute.

Prussia started to wonder how Alfred was doing. He dared himself to look in Alfred's direction as he lathered his own body with soap. The blonde was rubbing shampoo in his hair. Gilbert immediately berated himself for looking in Alfred's direction. A dark blush started to form on his face. He tried to push away the thoughts that invaded his own mind, but it was no use. Gilbert started imagining the look of adoration for him on that boyish face. The way Alfred would feel in his arms while he kissed the blonde. Alfred on his knees in front of Gilbert, about to take him into – _Nein! I'm not going to do that to him! _

Gilbert's right hand clenched the beige ceramic tiled walls as he scrubbed himself roughly with the other hand, fighting a battle with his own traitorous fucking hormones. His self control was dwindling. He hoped that the blonde didn't see the state his shaft was in at the moment. He silently begged God and his dead uncle Fritz for help. He felt ashamed of his own feelings for the blond. Since the night with Ludwig, Gilbert didn't trust himself around others. He didn't want to hurt Alfred. And he certainly didn't want to jack off with the blond in the room either. Agreeing to occupy the nineteen year old in the shower and gazing upon the naked body of the other man was a mistake.

After finally successfully pushing the thoughts away from his head, Gilbert's hormones had finally calmed down. He washed his hair and shut the water off. He felt a pair of slick arms wrap around his waist. He let out a gasp of shock and turned to see the Alfred was the one hugging him. The blond flashed one of his trademark smiles at him, completely oblivious to the current awkward situation, "thanks dude for joining me in here. I was so scared that some creep was going to do something to me. You know? You're a pretty awesome guy!"

"I-It's not a problem, Alfred," Gilbert stuttered. Gilbert was convinced then that Alfred was the most oblivious person that he has ever met.

Alfred let him go and rubbed his rumbling stomach, "man, I hope lunch is more filling than breakfast was. I really could go for a burger or some fries."

"Congrats, birdie. You're about to get your wish. We're having grilled hamburger and fries for lunch today." Alfred's eyes lit up when he had heard that. Gilbert shook his head. "I wouldn't get too excited. If you're expecting anything like what they serve in restaurants or what you're used to at home, you would be sadly mistaken. All of the food here is sub-standard, even for American food."

The American shrugged, "meh, at least Iggy wouldn't be the one fixing it. Plus it's a hamburger and fries."

"Alright." Gilbert replied, grinning that he found out a couple of more things about Alfred today; Alfred was ruled by his own stomach and his favorite foods were hamburgers and fries. The comment about Arthur rekindled Gilbert's interest into Alfred's relationship with the uptight institute owner. "Hey Alfred, how do you know Kirkland?"

Alfred's expression quickly changed to that of scorn when he had mentioned the institute owner. "He's an asshole dick. I don't want to talk about him." Alfred quickly dressed and left Gilbert alone in the shower room.

_What the fuck was that about? _Gilbert looked puzzled. He hoped that Francis could answer that question for him. Francis seemed to know a lot about institute owner for some odd reason that Gilbert never questioned. The two frequented the same social circles before Francis' conviction, he knew that for sure.

After Gilbert had gotten dressed, he began his search for the Frenchman. He immediately found Francis in the hallway, schmoozing with Antonio. The two stopped their conversation and waved at him. Gilbert grinned and waved back, joining their group. After talking about mundane topics such as the weather and what's been happening around the institute lately, Gilbert turned to Francis, "so, Francis, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, mon ami. What did you need to ask me?" Francis had asked, curious about what Gilbert needed to ask him.

Gilbert rubbed the back of his neck, nervously, "You know that new guy, Alfred F. Jones?"

"Oui," Francis nodded, "what about him?"

Gilbert glanced around to see if Alfred or if Arthur was around. After deciding that the course was clear, he asked, "what is Arthur's relationship with Alfred? I noticed that both of them are pissed at each other, so I was wondering what that is about."

"You didn't know?" Francis quirked a finely-shaped eyebrow at Gilbert, "Arthur and Alfred share a particular close bond with one another that's not a romantic one. In fact, Alfred's conviction had landed Arthur in quite a bit of hot water with the press for both their close relationship and the fact that Arthur allowed Alfred to be treated here. It also put Arthur's own career in jeopardy. Thankfully, our fuzzy eyebrowed chenille is still with us today. I'm surprised Alfred didn't tell you himself. "

Gilbert shook his head, "he doesn't want to talk about it." Knowing that, Gilbert can kind of understand the stressful situation between the two. A rape conviction didn't just affect the person charged; it affected their close family members and friends as well. He wasn't sure how his own conviction had affected Roderich's and Elizabeta's lives. As for Ludwig, he could only imagine how much hell Ludwig was going through with the double whammy of being both an abuse victim that got violated by his own older brother and being the family member of a rapist. Knowing that, Gilbert couldn't blame Ludwig for never wanting to see him again.

"Well, that's too bad. If you want to know more about their relationship, you can always try looking through Alfred's stuff. I'm sure you'll find the answers to whatever questions you might have there," Francis added. "J'ai faim. I'm not sure how much longer I can deal with prison food. I'll see you in the cafeteria. Salut, Gilbert! Think about what I said."

Gilbert watched as Antonio and Francis leave. Though Francis really didn't answer his question about what kind of relationship Arthur had with Alfred. He guessed that he did have to do some snooping around to satiate his own curiosity. He was about to head to the cafeteria when he was stopped by Elizabeta who looked a bit stressed. "Gilbert, can I have a minute?"

"Geez, what's wrong with you? You look like shit," Gilbert guffawed, "is that insufferable cunt, Roderich, on his rag again?"

Elizabeta scowled at him, "shut up about Roderich. I've just been stressed about my schedule changing, because of the new additions to the institute. It should get better organized in a couple of days. I'm sorry to ask this, but you think you could meet me during lunch time? That way, I would be able to get my appointment with you done and over with for today. You can bring your lunch into my office."

"Fine with me," Gilbert didn't see a problem with it. The sooner he got done with the appointment, the better. Besides he had something he wanted to talk to Elizabeta about without delving too much into his current problem.

"Thank you, Gilbert," Elizabeta smiled, "thank you!"

Gilbert walked into the counseling room with his food where Elizabeta was engrossed with the computer screen in front of her, not noticing that he came in. Dark bags formed around the woman's eyes from stress. Gilbert had gotten the same lunch that Alfred did, but he gotten a baked potato instead of fries. When he had seen the blond, he was chatting up the Japanese guy from group therapy, Kiku Honda. It was great to know that the blond was already making new friends.

Gilbert felt a sneeze coming along and covered his nose and mouth. He sneezed loudly which gotten the counselor's attention, "oh, sorry Gilbert. I didn't notice that you came in."

The relationship between Elizabeta and Gilbert was complicated to say the least. On one hand, he could joke around with her and kind of relax when she was around. On the other hand, she despised him for being a hooligan who drank beer until his whole entire body smelled of it and got into fights whenever the opportunity arisen. She also hated his ego problems and complained about it constantly. She was also pretty scary when she also angrily chased him around, waving a frying pan at him. Thankfully she couldn't do that at the institute.

They knew each other since they were teenagers when she had started dating his cousin. She was a good woman, but he couldn't ever see himself dating her. She was like a younger sister to him and he had been gay ever since he could remember. If he was straight, he probably would've gone out with her, but he wasn't. Also, a part of him didn't want to admit it, but he believed that Roderich and her were great together and had a wonderful relationship.

She begin the session by asking him some routine questions like how he was feeling today and how the antidepressants he was put on were working for him. The Kirkland Institute didn't believe in using chemical castration drugs to treat its' offenders unless an offender consented to the procedure. The people at the institute believed that cognitive-behavioral therapy and the use of psychological drugs was better way to help offenders curb their negative behavior and thought processes.

"So, I've heard that you and one of the newcomers were getting pretty close to each other this morning in the group therapy room," Elizabeth smirked impishly at him. "So, did you finally find someone that is willing to be in a relationship with you?"

Gilbert stared at her, not knowing what to say. "How did you know about that?"

"Arthur was ranting and raving about it in the staff room, stating that you and a `loud mouthed git' were being indecent together and that the `loud mouthed git' got rude with him. If I were you, I would try not to upset Arthur for the rest of the day unless you want your privileges taken away or to get cursed with one of his little spells when he's in his office."

The institute's owner's involvement with the occult was not news in the institute. Almost everyone knew about Arthur dabbling in witchcraft thanks to Francis telling quite a few people about it. It seemed that almost every unsavory part of Arthur's life that was spread to other inmates and staff members was spread by the blond Parisian. Arthur made no attempt at denying the rumors about him being involved with witchcraft either. Of course, Arthur's higher-ups couldn't do a thing about what Arthur did in his own house. There was also a strange rumor that Arthur even sold his soul to the devil in order to become successful, but Gilbert had no idea if that rumor was true or not.

Gilbert snorted, "The name of the 'loud mouth git' is Alfred and I accidently fell on him. That's all! Besides, if I like the guy, it's none of that bastard's concern."

"Do you like him?" Elizabeta asked.

Gilbert blushed. He didn't know how to answer it. He did like Alfred, but didn't want to hurt. "I do like him a lot despite the fact I met him last night. I want to have a reciprocal relationship with him like what you and Rich boy have together, but I don't trust myself around him. I hurt Ludwig and I don't want to hurt Alfred. I'm not even sure how Alfred feels about me yet."

Elizabeta listened attentively and nodded. "There's nothing wrong with wanting a relationship with someone. It's a completely natural thing. You just need to know what boundaries to take with him and knowing when to back off. I can tell you what happened that led to you hurting Ludwig just from listening to you and viewing your case file. You bottled up your own emotions for so long that you could barely control your own actions anymore. I bet that if you told Ludwig a lot sooner, that night wouldn't have happened even if Ludwig would've rejected you. Also, you were completely drunk off your butt where you couldn't process the fact that Ludwig was telling you to stop. While these are not excuses for what you did, the situation could've been avoided." The brunette woman noticed the albino absorbing her words, "just be honest about your feelings and back off if he gets too uncomfortable."

"Yes, I'll try that." Gilbert felt that her advice was adequate and helpful, which made him feel a bit better about his own emotions than before the appointment today. After the session had ended, Gilbert headed towards the cafeteria were a large group watched attentively to scene. Gilbert could've already tell that the crowd was watching a fight. As usual when it came to fights, a couple of the guards were on their walkie-talkies, reporting the fight. The other two were trying to pull the volatile Danish guy away from the scene. Gilbert pushed past the crowd, looking for Alfred. When he had finally found the blond, the blond was curled up into the fetal position, clenching at his own stomach. "Alfred!" Gilbert yelled shoving past other inmates to try to help the blond.

* * *

Mon ami – My friend

Chenille – caterpillar

J'ai faim – I'm hungry

Salut – An informal way of saying hello or goodbye.


	6. Love

Staring in horror at the blond laying helplessly on the floor, Gilbert quickly kneeled down to the floor, holding Alfred in his arms. Alfred was gasping for air, unable to move without due to being in severe pain. "Breath, Alfred, breath!" Gilbert commanded softly. He noticed that Kiku took his lead and started kneeling in front of Alfred as well, concerned for the man's well-being.

The Dane that put Alfred on the floor was grinning smugly at indisposed blond and at Prussia's nurturing attitude towards the younger man. "Well, this is an interesting sight. Here I thought you were a completely heartless thug to everyone but that brother you put the screws to. Is this guy your new bitch, Beilschmidt?" The guards struggled to keep the Dane away from the three on the floor. "Well, if he is, tell your new bitch to mind his own fucking business unless you want your new boy-toy to leave the Kirkland Institute in a fucking body bag!"

Gilbert glared icily at what the Dane had said about Alfred. "You put him in a body bag and I'll make you wish that you were in one." He was trying to breathe the fire out of his lungs. The only thing preventing him from wiping the floor with the Danish trash was that Alfred was injured and he had to protect him. The one moment he left the blond alone and this happened. He looked to Kiku who was pulling up Alfred's shirt carefully. He was about to say something, until he seen that Kiku was assessing the bruises upon Alfred's body.

"The bruises are not too bad considering that the guy hit Alfred-san five times in the stomach. It's my fault that he ended up this way. The guy was harassing me, Eduard, and Ivan. Alfred shook up for us and t-that's when Alfred was punched," Kiku explained.

Gilbert simply nodded. _You're always the hero. Right, Alfred? _He found that part of Alfred to be as annoying as it was charming. The blond could see wherever goodness was in individuals even in a place like this. Especially in individuals such as Ivan and was willing to put himself in jeopardy just to protect them.

_Speaking of which, where the fuck is the Russian? Don't tell me that the unawesome creep ran away from him. Also, where are the rest of the fucking guards? _Gilbert didn't have to look long for his question when he heard the Russian yell "Nyet." The Russian was being held by several guards who struggled to hold the six foot criminally-insane man still while another group of guards was escorting the Dane to the isolation room.

Gilbert clenched onto Alfred's hand, seeing the guy slip out of conscious. "Alfred? Alfred! Scheiße!" Alfred had completely lost consciousness on him. "This is not good!" Gilbert quickly lifted Alfred up, bridal and rushed out of the cafeteria. A couple of guards tried to get his attention, but he ignored him. Alfred's safety came first.

He quickly rushed Alfred into the medical office and sat him on one of the medical beds, much to the long haired brunette nurse's confusion. "What happened to him?"

Gilbert straightened up the blond on the bed. "He was punched in the gut and passed out after gasping too much."

The nurse tilted Alfred's head back and leaned towards Alfred's face and announced that Alfred was still breathing. Gilbert stayed in the room with them, not moving from his spot. He lifted up Alfred's shirt and assessed the bruises on Alfred's stomach. The bruises were not too bad, in the brunette's opinion. The nurse asked Gilbert if Alfred puked or spit up blood. Gilbert shook his bed, "he didn't."

"Hey, bff Toris! Have you seen some like totally blond guy named Alfred F. Jones taken into here?" A voice inquired from the door. Gilbert turned to see one of the guards of institute.

Toris then moved to Alfred to his side and had him tilt his head back. He looked towards the back of the nineteen year old's shirt with the name "Alfred F. Jones" ironed into the fabric. "Yes, he's here, Feliks."

"Oh good like totally," Feliks got out his walkie-talkie and announced that the blond was taken to the infirmary. "We would've, like, taken him here ourselves, but like it took quite a few of us to, like, hold that totally huge guy Braginsky back and a couple of us to, like, get Køhler to isolation. I like totally told Arthur Kirkland that we should get more guards here, but, like he's such a cheapskate! Anyway, I gotta see if the situation's calmed down any. Catch ya later, Toris!"

When the talkative blond guard left, the nurse went to the medicine cabinet and got out a bottle of garlic pills. "What's that even for?" Gilbert stared at the bottle. The nurse twisted the cap off and held the bottle next to Alfred's nose. The odor of the bottle was pungent. Gilbert could smell the bottle from where he was standing, almost as if Toris had used a bottle of freshly sliced garlic pieces instead of garlic pills. After a few seconds, Alfred groaned, his eyes open to a slit. Toris twisted the cap back on the bottle and put it back into the cabinet.

"Alfred, you're alright," Gilbert let out a sigh with relief.

Alfred nodded, smiling a bit, "of course, I am!"

"You'll be fine, Alfred. You hyperventilated when you were injured which lead to you passing out. You'll be fine after some rest. You'll need to stay here for an hour just so I can keep an eye on you. Also, I'm going to give you a couple of pain pills. If you need any more after you leave, just come back." Gilbert knew that the staff was going to prescribe Ibuprofen or Tylenol. Someone would have to be dying before they get anything stronger in this place.

After Gilbert was kicked out of the room ("Alfred needs his rest, he'll be able to see you later."), he returned back to his room to write in his diary to try to keep his mind off of the American. Unfortunately, that only worked for a minuscule amount of time.

Sure, the blond did have three allies within the institute; Ivan, Kiku, and him. However, the Japanese seemed frail and weak and Ivan was insane. That just left him to take care of the blond and he couldn't be there at every waking second for him. Sure, the blond looked like he played sports in high school and did some weight training as well, but that didn't mean that Alfred was any good at fighting. The scene in the cafeteria was proof of that. So many solutions to this issue mulled in his mind until he found one that made the most sense. _Why didn't I think of that before?_

Gilbert decided to do some light cleaning on Alfred's side of the room. Gilbert shook his head when he saw that Alfred didn't even make his own bed. Francis' words about finding his answer within Alfred's belonging rang in his head. Could he really go through his roommate's stuff just to satisfy his own curiosity, especially since the same roommate was in the infirmary?

Gilbert just shrugged and opened one of the dresser doors. After realizing that there was nothing in the drawer besides socks and underwear, he shut the drawer. He opened another one, finding an old, worn photo album. His adrenaline rushed at the thought that he was about to see a glimpse of Alfred's personal life. After checking the door to see if Alfred was coming back sooner than expected, Gilbert flipped open the album to be greeted with a picture of a much younger-looking version of the institute owner holding up a blond child that looked about seven to ten years old. Both of the people in picture seemed quite happy with one another.

There was no mistaking that blond hair, those blue eyes, that cowlick, or that smile anywhere. That was Alfred. The next picture showed a rustic stone fireplace that was decorated with plastic Halloween decorations. In front of the fireplace were Alfred and Arthur. They both looked the same age as they were in the previous photo. Alfred was in a cowboy costume, sticking his tongue out at the camera. Arthur was in a red pirate costume and looked like he had his arms around Alfred and another person, but the other person was cut out of the picture.

_Wait a minute. . _Gilbert carefully took the picture out of the album and examined the back of it. The glossy new appearance and the familiar company watermark on the back of the photo was all the proof that he needed that there someone else was in the original picture, but the computer specialist in the building made a copy of the picture and cropped out the other person. The original picture was under lock-and-key in one of the storage rooms in the building, only to be given back when the inmate is released. This only happened if an offender shared a family bond with their victims before their crime. If an offender had gotten a picture brought in with a known victim that wasn't in any way related to them, they wouldn't get the photo back. Gilbert already knew who was cropped out of the photo, Alfred's own twin brother.

The institute had a strange rule about preventing inmates from keeping mementos or photographs of their victims. The institute believed that having them would increase an inmate's deviant thoughts towards their victims. If a picture would have to been considered extremely graphic , the staff would consider showing it to the police or getting rid of it. If a picture seemed particularly important, the computer specialist would make a copy of the picture, cropping out the victim from the copy. Gilbert knew this from personal experience.

Of course, Arthur found a creative way to use the unaltered original pictures that were in the storage. He used the pictures for the PPG graph to see if an offender still had deviant desires towards their victims. During his uncomfortable appointments with the PPG machine, Gilbert was shown pictures of him and Ludwig as well as sexually suggestive pictures of muscular guys that looked like Ludwig with he squinted enough.

He was also shown pictures of sultry women in bathing suits, rubbing tanning lotion on themselves, pictures of fully clothed children eating a dill pickle, a picture of people covered in ketchup looking fake blood; it was stuff that wouldn't have interested in him in the slightest bit, but it was what the other offenders at the institute would've considered sexy.

Despite all of that, consensual relationships between inmates and legal pornography (as long as the genitalia and the nude breasts of woman were censored with black marker ink) weren't against institute rules. Gilbert put the picture back into the album and shut it. _So, Alfred is Arthur's son? Who would've known? He barely looks like him. Not only that, but Kirkland's not that old to have a kid that's older than eighteen. _Gilbert barely looked like his own brother either, since he was a pale albino, but that was beyond the point. The question still remained of why Alfred had a different last name from Arthur.

The institute owner's name was on a document in the open dresser door. Gilbert put the picture back in its original place and picked up the document. It was adoption papers. The adoption papers had shown that Alfred F. Jones was born on the Fourth of July and lived in a foster care system in New York City. The name next to Alfred's was Matthew Williams who was born 3 days before Alfred was and lived in the foster care system in Toronto, Canada. Arthur had signed the paper and made a side note that he would not separate the twins.

_Twins living in different countries? That must've been rough! I couldn't imagine being away from Ludwig as a kid. _Gilbert put everything back into the drawer and shut it, his mind reeling from the fact that Alfred was the adopted son of Arthur. All of the troubles he was having currently have suddenly increased tenfold. Even if Arthur was mad at Alfred and despised him, there was no way Arthur was going to sit back and allow his adopted son to get in a romantic relationship with an offender here, especially one who had been in prison before. _Why does everything have to be so unawesome and complicated? What am I even thinking? I should try to get to know Alfred better before even thinking about romance._

Gilbert was not a patient person and he would rather have a fast pace, no-holds-barred awesome relationship with someone than drag it out for as long as possible. The only reason that his one-sided attraction to Ludwig lasted for as long as it did, because he tried to deny to himself that he had feelings for him for a long time before he violated him.

When it came to Alfred, he didn't feel as wrong and disgraceful for wanting a romantic relationship as he did when it came to Ludwig. The only things preventing him from pursuing one with Alfred was that he didn't know Alfred too well and he didn't want Alfred to get hurt. He put everything back into the dresser in their original spot and closed the dresser.

Gilbert left a note on Alfred's bed that he was going to be in the art room. Gilbert had a sketch that he wanted to finish. He normally hated art, but he wanted to draw the fair him and his brother went to when they were kids, before the event fades from his own memory as what happens when people get older. He only drew himself at the fair. What the artistic significance of that was, besides the rules of the institute, he didn't know.

He walked into the room where brunette woman who ran the art room, Feliciana, was quickly at work with a new painting of hers. When Gilbert had first arrived, the woman had drawn nothing but various pasta dishes. For about six months, the woman had switched up her style to include romantic scenes. She had been excited that she found a lover and wanted to tell everyone who went into her art room about it. One of her paintings, as was indicted by the title of the painting, was of the broad chest and shoulders of her lover who was holding up a bowl of spaghetti. The painting didn't show her lover's face, so Gilbert had no idea what her lover looked like.

When a few other people came in, including Kiku, Feliciana greeted the group. The way she bounced around near the painting, almost tripping on her own two feet and the way she smiled told him that she badly wanted to tell the group some good news. The curl on the left side of her head bounced as she moved. The Italian woman finally spoken up, not being able to contain the happiness that she was feeling. "Ve. Everyone, I've got some great news. I'm going to be una mamma! I'm going to be a mother! I'm pregnant!" She cried happily, tears forming around her eyes.

Gilbert along with other people in the art room congratulated her on her pregnancy. She was asked questions from other inmates. The woman disclosed that her "patata," the nickname she had for her lover, Gilbert didn't know the actual name of her lover, was supportive of her and the unborn baby. She also talked several more minutes on how she was planning on marrying the guy if he wanted to. How her family already knows and that her brother doesn't like the guy she's with. Gilbert hoped things worked out for her.

The rest of the time went by, quietly as he added the final touches to the sketch and started to walk out of the art room. He believed that he did an awesome fucking job on the sketch. It took him 2 months to complete it, but it's now done. He was about leave until the Italian woman looks over his shoulder, "that's a nice sketch. Where is the place on it?"

"It was a fair in Berlin that I went to when I was a kid," Gilbert had explained, gazing at the sketch he just finished.

The Italian smiled, "my patata is from there. Does everyone from Germany like eating potatoes? My patata loves them! It's a nice sketch. Though your sketch feels like there is something is missing. I don't know what it could be."

"I have no idea either," Gilbert shrugged.

* * *

So far, the couples that are going to appear in later chapters are PruAme, one-sided RusAme, FrUk, Ger/F!Ita, with the possibility of other pairings. I hope this clears some things up regarding what pairings are going to appear in the story.

Scheiße –fuck

PPG - Penile plethysmography. It's a machine that measures sexual arousal in men by measuring the bloodflow of the penis.

Patata - Potato


	7. Thank You

A/N: There is a FrUk lemon in this chapter.

* * *

The heart of Kirkland Institute was within its'master's own office. Within its walls, important decisions related to the institute were made. Some of the decisions regarding the affairs of the institute were not always made with a sober mind. Arthur was what some might consider a functional drunk. He was able to hide his "lunch breaks" at the bar down the road from staff and the inmates by hiding in his office after lunch. The only ones who knew about his drinking problem in the building were Francis and Alfred. He was still able to keep the institute running adequately without too many problems. However, running a private prison-type institution wasn't a cake walk.

Arthur sat in front of the neverending paperwork of taxes and finances for the month. God, he hated this part of the job. Luckily, he made enough a year to be comfortable, financially. He peered over the paperwork to Francis loitering in his office. _Oh great! What does the wanton pervert want now? I'm busy! _

"Go away, Pepe la Pew. I'm far too busy today," Arthur grumbled, taking a sip of his tea, switching his attention to the progress the inmates were making. This seemed to be a regular occurrence. Arthur would switch his attention back and forth from one issue to the next. Surprisingly, he was able to get tasks done better that way.

Francis smirked and lifted up his own shirt slightly, allowing Arthur to get a glimpse of the white smooth skin. "What's wrong, Arthur? Are you still sullen over that little lost lamb of yours? You've got to try to forgive him some time. Holding that much anger towards him isn't going to help you or him in the long run."

"Tell me how to then," Arthur felt Francis move closer to him and wrap his arms around the Brit's slender waist, "I'm have to deal with trying to counsel both of my kids at the moment. Counseling complete bloody strangers are fine and all, but how do you counsel your own fucking kids? Both of my kids, one is a sodding rapist and the other is a rape victim. Matthew still won't get over the fact that it was Alfred who raped him and wants to come here to see him. Over my dead body that I'll even think of allowing that!"

Arthur continued to rant, haughtily, "What kind of fucking parent am I that something like that happened? Was there something that I bloody did when Alfred was a child for him to end up here? I never molested the boy. I never even laid a hand on him. I tried to give him the world, but he still rebelled against me when he was a teenager and still does it to this day. When he got arrested, that was the final straw. He's on his own!"

Francis sat on the floor with his legs spread. He patted the empty space between his thighs, eyeing Arthur. The Brit sighed and hesitantly sat down beside Francis, in between the Frenchman's legs. He mumbled "fucking pervert" at Francis, which caused Francis to snort, "mon petit ami that is what I'm talking about. Use some of your knowledge from studying sexual predators, victims, and their families and apply it to your situation. If you don't, you're not going to help Matthew, Alfred, or yourself. Have you spoken to another professional about it?"

"No," Arthur folded his arms, "I refuse to. I don't need a shrink telling me that I have a problem, because I bloody hell don't!" Arthur felt Francis wrap his arms around Arthur's slender waist. A bearded chin rested upon his shoulder. Arthur relaxed against Francis' warm touch.

Their secret rendezvous were an almost regular occurrence. Arthur would vent his problems out to Francis, Francis would listen and talk with him, they would fool around, and they would fuck. Arthur chalked it up to him being a lonely man and Francis, well, being Francis. He did feel an attraction and a particular bond with the Parisian, but they sometimes butted heads over the most insignificant matters. Such was their relationship.

"Alfred also has himself a boyfriend here," Arthur's face twisted with disgust, "I caught him with your German friend." A special emphasis was added to the word `your.'

Francis smirked, "and what's so terrible about your son finding someone that makes him happy?"

"I can't stand the thought of them together. I thought I raised Alfred to have better tastes then that, but apparently the git just wants to do things his own way without any input from me and what I've taught him," Arthur grimaced.

Francis placed light nips upon green-eyed man's shoulder. "So which part of that upsets you more? Alfred wanting a romantic relationship with him or Alfred enticed into the lustful embrace of his new amant allemande?"

"Which one do you think?" Arthur spat, venomously.

Francis' face quickly changed to a devilish, lustful grin, "I've heard that the Germans are into some pretty bizarre sexual practices. I've had a couple of German business men in my bed before. One wanted to gag me while he entered me without any preparation and had a knack for choking me when he thrust his hard, thick manhood inside of me. Can you imagine that being done to Alfred?"

"That's disgusting!" Arthur slapped away the hand that was reaching towards his groin, "You're sick! Alfred is my son, you twisted, lecherous snake!"

"That's such a cruel thing to say," Francis sniffled with mock offense, "I'm a saint!"

Arthur turned to glare at him, "Compared to whom? Marquis De Sade?"

"You can't change the fact that your adoptive son is now a man and has the same desires as one." Francis purred seductively as he sucked lightly onto Arthur's nape, "he might even have his adoptive father's desires of having a well-equipped man tending to his sexual urges."

Slapping Francis in the face seemed like a good idea to Arthur, but he was quickly falling prey to Francis' seduction. Francis could even be reciting a grocery list in the same type of seductive voice and Arthur would still feel weak in the knees. He turned towards the man that he wanted to hit just a second ago and pressed his lips against Francis' own. Francis' soft velvet lips and facial hair tickled against his skin. Arthur nervously glanced over at the door to see if Francis locked it before he came in. When he realized that it was, he turned facing Francis, kissing him hungrily, straddling Francis' legs. "I want to make this quick," Arthur said between breathes, "I've got quite a bit to do today."

"Of course," Francis smirked, as he deftly unbuttoned Arthur's shirt and his pants. The smooth skin of the Brit was his to own and to devour. To him, the Brit was like fine aged wine in a tacky bottle; once he got past the man's eyebrows, cheap suits, and bitter attitude, he had found the man to be the perfect gentleman, both inside and out. Plus, the sex was mind-blowing. The way Arthur's soft skin felt when under his touch, the way his green eyes glittered when he reached his peak, and the way the Brit haughty demanded sexual acts during their love-making was all wrapped up in one nice package.

"Hurry up, you bloody bastard!" Arthur whined, grinding his crotch against Francis' own, "I want your hard cock in me right now!"

Francis grinned as he lowered Arthur to the floor, "my, isn't someone a bit eager." He worked on the button of Arthur's pants, cupping the bulge that was forming. Arthur rutted against his hand, moaning. Francis took it as a sign to go further. He unzipped the other's pants and tugged them off of Arthur's hips. Arthur was more than willing to oblige helping Francis remove his own pants. Once removed, Francis watched as Arthur's member twitched under the cotton fabric, begging for his touch.

Arthur's boxers came next and Francis wasted no time spreading Arthur's legs. His head dipped between the Englishman's legs, taking the tip of Arthur's shaft into his mouth. Arthur's penis was average sized, but that didn't deter Francis from sexual activity with him. In fact, Francis found Arthur's arousal quite cute. Francis let his mouth travel down the side of Arthur's shaft, teasingly, and brought it up again. Francis sucked on the head, coating it with saliva, until he took all of Arthur's cock into his mouth. He bobbed his head, thanking years of experience for lowering his gag reflex. He looked up and saw Arthur biting one of his own hands to keep himself from moaning too loud.

Arthur mewled and writhed under Francis' touch, only to find out that his hips were pinned by Francis' shoulders. He looked down and saw that Francis had unzipped his own pants and was stroking himself in tune with his bobbing. After a while, the frequency of Arthur's moans changed and Francis pulled his head away with a slick popping noise. He quickly removed his own shirt, pants, and underwear. Francis used his own salvia to lube himself up. After he had gotten himself nice and wet, he was about to prepare Arthur. That was until Arthur shouted at him in wanton, disregarding how loud he was getting.

"For the last time, you cock-teasing whore, hurry up! I don't need much preparation. I just need you in me right now."

Francis smiled humorously at Arthur's display. Arthur was so needy for the other man's touch. Green eyes gazed at Francis, half lidded, begging him to continue. Francis couldn't deny Arthur with a look like that. Francis positioned his hard member to Arthur's entrance. After deciding that Arthur was ready for him, Francis slid himself inside.

Gilbert headed towards his room, drawing in arm. Kiku had stopped him on the way there to ask how Alfred was. Gilbert repeated what Toris had said to Kiku and not much else was said between the two. Gilbert opened the door to find that Alfred was on his bed, looking through one of his gay pornography magazines in German that he bought from a sex shop. He was quite surprised when he got them that some sex shops in the US sold German pornography. He also had a couple of porn magazines in English as well, but it was nice to brush up on his home language even if it was from a dirty magazine.

"Yo, what's up?" Alfred grinned over the magazine.

Gilbert sat the finished drawing down on his dresser in the empty place where the magazine once sat. "I'm doing just fine now that you're back safe and sound. So Alfred, how are you enjoying my awesome bed and magazine?"

"The bed's a bit lumpier that mine is and the magazine has some pretty hot guys in it. What language is this? I don't recognize it," Alfred pointed to the captions that were near a guy that was sensually licking cum off of his own face. Gilbert had to admit, the kid was pretty bold to be viewing pornography unashamedly in front of him, a sexual offender that Alfred just met a day ago. That was . . . actually pretty awesome of him.

"The language is German." Gilbert replied, sitting next to Alfred, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you – do you find guys to be more awesome in the sack than women?" Alfred might've been gay considering what he did to his twin brother, but there were a few guys in the institute that he knew about who raped other guys and didn't consider themselves to be gay. It seemed kind of weird to him that a guy with no sexual attraction to men would do something like that, but he didn't question it.

Alfred wondered if Gilbert just got the magazine for the pictures or if he could actually understand the language, "wait, are you German? Also, yeah, I do find guys sexier than I find women. I have been gay since I can remember."

"Ja, I'm from Berlin, the capital city of Germany. I'm surprised you couldn't tell from my accent" Gilbert nodded, "a part of my mother's ancestors are also Prussian, which is pretty awesome, I may add. I'm also gay by the way."

Alfred tilted his head in confusion, "What-ian? Ah, nevermind. That's kind of cool that you're German."

"Anyway," Gilbert quickly changed the subject, "I was thinking. I thought it would a great idea if I teach you how to fight."

Alfred huffed, "I don't need fighting lessons. I can take care of myself."

"You do," Gilbert shot back, "what happened in the cafeteria is enough proof of that. Even if you don't think you need fighting lessons, just try it out. Just think about it this way, you don't have anything better to do in here. Also, it's not like those incompetent guards are going to catch us, we'll be in here training."

"Fine," Alfred groaned, "when do the lessons start?"

Gilbert tilted his head up to think for a bit, "they start next week. Enough time for you to get feeling better and to get used to this place."

"Can't wait. You know, I never did thank you properly for being a good sidekick earlier," Alfred beamed at him.

Gilbert turned to him, "how are you going to thank me for that?"

Alfred grinned and told Gilbert to close his eyes. He complied with the bespectacled man's wish and waited anxiously for what he had in store. He felt smooth hands on his cheek. His breath hitched, wondering what Alfred was going to do next. His eyes widened when he felt Alfred's lips on his forehead, kissing him. Gilbert's face became as red as his eyes.

Alfred's lips lingered on his forehead for several moments before pulling away, smiling. "How was that for a thank you?" Gilbert was left speechless at the blonde's actions.

* * *

mon petit ami – My boyfriend

amant allemande – German lover


	8. Gifts

A week had passed since Gilbert's proposal and he wondered if Alfred was still up for the challenge. During the week, Gilbert got to know a few more things about the blond just like the blonde's favorite type of movies were sci-fi, horror, and superhero movies, as if he couldn't already guess from the posters on the blonde's side of the room. The blond also liked ice cream, a piece of information that Gilbert was sure that would come in handy later. He had listened to the blond prattle on about his high school years and his various mishaps with the teachers there. Listening to Alfred's high school mishaps reminded him of when he was just a teenager, himself

_Gilbert had been just sixteen years old at the time. Roderich's parents had adopted the two boys a few years back. They left their home country of Germany, because they had no other relatives to take care of them there. Gilbert's favorite uncle Fritz died when he was just a small child. Roderich's parents had moved from Austria to the US when Roderich and he were in elementary school._

_Gilbert had been thrown out of the house in just two months of staying there. His aunt and uncle found him to completely unruly and found him to be a bad influence on his younger brother. With nowhere else to go and with not much education to even get a part time job at a fast food franchise, Gilbert stayed in the house of a drug dealer that used him as an errand boy. Gilbert didn't have the slightest idea when he agreed to the proposal what the "job hazard" would've been, so to speak. He quickly realized it when someone pulled a knife on him on the first drop off._

_"Bruder, what happened to your shoulder? It's bleeding. You look awful," the twelve year old trembled at the sight of the blood._

_"Oh this?" Gilbert forced himself to chuckle, "it's just a scratch. It's nothing to worry about."_

_The frown never left Ludwig's face, "this is serious, Gil. What if you get hurt or killed one day? You might have people who want you hurt. I mean, there is no one else who looks like you. Your white hair and your red eyes -"_

_"That's what the hoodie and sunglasses are for," Gilbert patted Ludwig's head, "don't worry about me. I'll be fine."_

_Ludwig still wasn't convinced. His older brother was playing with fire and could get burned one day, "I also saw those disgusting fags having sex with you."_

_Gilbert stared dumbfounded at his own little brother. He wasn't sure if it was Ludwig's use of the word "fag," the fact that Ludwig knew what sex was at his age, or the fact that Ludwig caught him whoring himself out, but he remained silent for several minutes before speaking again, "I never want to hear the word fag come out of your mouth again. Do you understand, Lud?" Ludwig nodded, meekly, and Gilbert continued. "Where did you learn about sex, anyway? How did you know what I did?"_

_"I learned it from the kids at school and I seen you with those nasty men a couple of times when I came to visit. I'm not a stupid child!" That explained a couple of things to Gilbert. There were a couple of times where he had a couple of johns that kind of interfered with his time with his own brother. Ludwig had to make up an excuse about going to a friend's house to his aunt and uncle in order to stay the night there, because of their unwillingness to let the boys have a brotherly relationship. During those couple of times Gilbert had pinpointed as the possible times that Ludwig was referring to, he did notice Ludwig acting a little strangely, but thought it was because Ludwig was upset over the time lost that he could be spending with him._

_Ludwig folded his arms, glaring at his brother, "so why do you do it?"_

_"Do what?" Gilbert was finishing bandaging up the wound on his own arm, thankful that he didn't need to get stitches. He sat on his own bed, tossing bloody tissues in the waste can. _

_Ludwig seethed, tears were starting to well up in his eyes, "You know what! H-having sex with strange men! Doing stupid drug runs that could get you killed one day! I hate having to see you hurt all of the time."_

_"I only do it for money. Look, I wouldn't be doing it if I had a stable home and if you had everything that you could ever want," Gilbert sighed, he hated being put in awkward positions, especially by his own little brother. It was amazing how mature Ludwig was for his age._

_Unwavering, Ludwig still stared down his older brother, "you could move in with aunt and-"_

_"You know damn well that I can't!" Gilbert snapped. His expression quickly softened when he seen his younger brother shake from anger. "Look, I promise you that I'll always be there to protect you, Ludwig Beilschmidt."_

_"D-do you mean that?" The normally stoic boy sniffled._

_ Gilbert leaned in to hug his own brother, "of course I do."_

_It was Ludwig's turn to make a promise to his older brother, "Gilbert, I promise you that when I'm old enough to get a part-time job and get e-man-ci-pated, we'll live together again."_

_"Do you mean that?" Gilbert asked him. When Ludwig nodded, Gilbert reached into the pocket of his own pants and took something out of it._

_"What's in your hand?" The boy looked inquisitively. Turning around when he was ordered to, Ludwig felt a cold, threadlike, metallic chain slid across his neck. After hearing the necklace snap into place, Ludwig looked down and seen that the pendant was a black iron cross. The necklace was an exact twin of the new necklace that was around the albino's neck."I-I like it. Danke, Gilbert!"_

_"Think of it as taking a part of the awesome me with you when you go back to Prissy Boy's parents' house and have to deal with their shit."_

_"Alright," Ludwig looked back and forth from his new necklace to his brother, "are you ready to start studying English with me?"_

_"Ja, I'm ready."_

Both brothers kept their promises to each other, up until the night that changed both of their lives forever. Gilbert was able to find the blond in the craft room. The pungent smell of paint permeated the air. He could already feel himself getting a headache. He looked over to the table covered in old newspapers and saw Alfred and Ivan putting the finishing touches to their bottled rockets. He could tell that Alfred used a 2 liter pop bottle and Ivan used a 16 oz soda bottle. Alfred's bottle was painted with navy blue paint and was covered with aluminum tin foil stars. Ivan's own rocket was painted with light blue with sunflowers painted on the rocket and intricate designs in black ink that surrounded the sunflowers. The designs around the sunflowers almost reminded him of those Henna tattoos that used to be so popular back when he was a kid.

"Check it out, yo!" Alfred boasted, raising his fist in the air in pride, "my new awesome heroic freedom fighter plane of doom!"

Ivan gave him a non-descriptive smile, "that plane of yours looks, uh, very heroic."

"Ah, what do you know," Alfred pouted. "Your rocket looks like a little sissy girly toy!"

Ivan's expression didn't change with Alfred's taunts, "well, I'm glad you think so. It took me the same amount of the time to make the `sissy girly toy' as it did to make your "heroic" rocket."

Gilbert chimed in, cackling at the sight, "Mein Gott, I never seen two grown men argue that much over hand crafted toys." Seeing those two kind of reminded him of a scene from an American thriller I saw on cable once where a few business men were flaunting around white business cards, trying to one up each other.

"Shut up," Alfred still pouted like a five year old that had gotten put in timeout.

Gilbert chuckled quietly at Alfred's behavior, "anyway, Alfred. It's just about time for our training to start."

"Okay dude, I'll be ready in a few minutes," Alfred took off his paint-covered apron and hung it on the rack. He returned to the table and flashed his pearly whites on Ivan, "I guess we can call it truce. Here, you can have my rocket once it dries."

"Really?" Ivan stared at him in amusement, "spasibo! You can have mine as well. You know, Alfred; you are an amusing mal'chik. I wish I met someone like you in Russia. Things probably would've been a lot different."

Alfred patted Ivan's arm from across the table, "that's where you're wrong. I'm one in a million, dude. You'll never find someone else as cool as me."

Gilbert snorted at the description Alfred gave of himself. He had to agree with "one in a million" comment. There's no one in the world quite like him, according to Gilbert. No one else can drive him as batty as Alfred did and the oddest part about it is the Gilbert couldn't get enough of the blond.

"I suppose you're right," Ivan got up and went behind Alfred, picking up the rocket, brushing himself against Alfred, taking in Alfred's scent, "I'll get this for you." Ivan took the rocket to the windowsill for it to dry.

Gilbert reluctantly watched the scene in disgusted horror. He felt physically sick when he seen Russia brush himself against the blond, almost like he was claiming Alfred in front of him. Even if he didn't want to claim Alfred for himself, he still would have similar feelings regarding what Ivan just pulled. The weird part was that Alfred seemed to not have noticed what Ivan just done. The blond didn't appear to be angered, embarrassed, or heaven forbid, turned on by Ivan's actions. No, Alfred just put away the paint brushes.

"Hey, birdie," Gilbert finally spoke, "how about you let me and Ivan deal with this mess and you get ready for practice back at the room. I'll only take a couple of minutes."

"Really? That's cool of you, dude. I owe you one." Alfred waved to both males as he headed back to his room.

After watching Alfred walk out the door, Gilbert glared darkly at Ivan, "I know what you're trying to do, Sie verdammt Russisch. I'm not going to allow you to take advantage of him."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ivan returned the look.

Gilbert's jaw tightened, "you know what! You're planning on making him your damn `sunflower.' Guess what, Ivan. I'm not going to let that fucking happen, you damned deranged sociopath. So keep your hands off of him!"

"It's really none of your business what I've got planned for him," Ivan had that damned childish smile on his voice, his voice was filled with malicious intentions, "nobody comes in between what I desire. In fact, Beilschmidt, I know your kind. You see something you want sexually and they become another notch on your belt. If you even think of kissing or putting your useless dick into Alfred, I'll show you the same pain you shown your own brother."

Gilbert started to open his mouth, but he quickly shut it. Adrenaline coursed through his body. He was ten seconds away from punching Ivan in the mouth. Gilbert wasn't sure what Ivan was implying with the comment about "his kind." It could've been either his gender or the nature of his conviction with the way Ivan talked. It's not like Gilbert was proud that he hurt his own brother and is now paying the price for. A badge of dishonor, that's what his conviction was. He was unwilling to get into an argument with Ivan about either his gender or his conviction.

Besides his attraction to Alfred, everything else that came out of the Russian's mouth was pure bullshit. Alfred wouldn't have been just a fucktoy to him. He actually did have feelings for Alfred. Sure, he was falling for him fast, but that meant little to him. He wanted Alfred to love him back, but wasn't sure how to express his feelings for the blond.

Gilbert worked up the nerve to advance towards Ivan. The Russian did nothing but chuckle childishly. Despite everything in his head protesting against it, Gilbert looked the demonic man straight in the eye wordlessly. His expression didn't falter. He wasn't as afraid of Ivan as much as he thought and he sure wasn't going to be bullied into not caring about Alfred. He turned on his heel walking out the door, telling the Russian that he could clean the mess in the art room by himself. Alfred needed Gilbert and the albino was going give him exactly what he wanted.

* * *

Spasibo: Thank you

Mal'chik: Boy

Sie verdammt Russisch: You damn Russian


	9. Training

_Two blond children waddled their way through the crowded mall, one dragging along his twin brother for the adventure. The younger of the twins wore a red and white striped shirt and blue jean overalls. His cowlick bounced with every step that he took. The older of the twins wore an oversized sweatshirt with a maple leaf on the front of the shirt and black jeans._

_"Al!" The older twin tried to get his brother's attention as he was led to God knows where, "Al! Where are we going? We need to find Arthur."_

_The younger twin continued his pace, "–And let him ruin our fun. Heck no! Besides we've been having tons of fun today without him. In fact, he's probably sipping tea and eating one of those nasty scones at the food court like a boring butthead. Besides, there's one more place that we haven't visited yet."_

_The twins hardly knew each other; they have just met the previous day when their new foster father introduced them to each other. Their mother had died in childbirth and the twins got put in temporary foster homes until Arthur adopted them – hence why they both have different last names. Despite the fact that everything done that day was Alfred's idea of fun, Matthew actually found himself having a good time with his hyperactive twin. It was the first time anyone has ever noticed him besides his dead mother and Arthur._

_Alfred thought that it was pretty cool to have a meeker twin to look after. He always wanted a sibling, but the kids in his previous foster home refused to treat him as such. He was overjoyed by the fact that now, he just didn't have a new foster brother, but that same foster brother was also his biological brother, his twin, his only blood relative. They both had an unbreakable bond with each other that can withstand the test of time, itself. It was one that they both would last until they both are buried six feet under, perhaps even after that._

_"Maple," Matthew's legs started to give out. He spent the last couple of hours getting dragged to the nickel arcade and various toy stores, watching Alfred have fun. Alfred tried to invite Matthew several times to join in with him to try out the new toys in the shops and to help him fight off the antagonists in the arcade games. However, Matthew was content in watching Alfred have fun. "Al, where are we going? My knees hurt." The eight year old child whined, wondering how much longer they both had to walk._

_"We're here," Alfred pointed excited at the store front. The store window display displayed various stuffed animals. The bright neon sign over the entrance beckoned the kids to come in the store. Alfred led his twin inside of the store. "I told the place is pretty sweet. I've got enough money to get us each a stuffed animal and a bite to eat. I'm getting hungry."_

_"How did you get that kind of money for that and to play the arcade games?" Matthew asked, puzzled._

_Alfred grinned, "I found a 20 dollar bill in the parking lot. Pretty cool, huh? Ya know what they say; Finders, keepers."_

_"I'm worried if we're in trouble for taking off. Arthur did take us here to get us to get new clothes," Matthew shook at the thought of them getting yelled at, spanked, or grounded for taking off in the mall like that._

_Alfred grinned at him, as if he was reading Matthew's mind. "Relax, if we do get in trouble, I'll be the hero and take the blame. Don't worry about it." Before Matthew could've said anything more, Alfred was already rushing up and down the aisles, looking for the perfect stuffed animal. Gazing at the various toys that were on display, Alfred finally found one that caught his eye. It was a grayish alien plushie with almond-shaped red eyes. Alfred hurriedly grabbed up the alien before anyone else could get their hands on it. _

_"Are you almost done, Al?" Matthew was carrying around a stuffed polar bear._

_"Yeah, dude," Alfred held up his new toy, "isn't it the coolest thing you've ever seen in your life? He looks exactly like the aliens in cartoons."_

_"It's really something," Matthew muttered, "as long as it sleeps in your room, I don't care. I much prefer a cute cuddly bear to a scary looking alien."_

_"That's because you're a sissy!" Alfred taunted, sticking his tongue out._

_Matthew punched Alfred in the arm and mumbled "jerk." He set the polar bear at the cash register. The long haired Taiwanese clerk rang up the alien and the polar bear. Alfred quickly paid for the stuffed animals and headed out with his new purchases, after getting his change._

_"So what are we going to name our new toys?" Matthew asked, getting the polar bear out of the bag, "they'll need names since they're ours now."_

_"Hmm," Alfred thought for a moment, "why don't we check them for their names." Alfred inspected the toy alien. "Ah, ha! His name is Tony!" Alfred showed Matthew the logo on the alien's back._

_"Al, that's just the company that made that thing," Matthew huffed and checked the bear, reluctantly, hoping that the company name wasn't something completely ridiculous, "his name is Kuma-gyro."_

_Then it was time for the twins to get their lunches where they discovered each other's food tastes, much to both of their horror. Alfred quickly inhaled half of one of the three large cheeseburgers in front of him while his twin nibbled a forkful of the stack of pancakes._

_"How much maple syrup is on that?" Alfred asked, between mouthfuls._

_"About as much ketchup that is on your burgers," Matthew retorted._

Alfred sniffled a bit when he remembered that day with Matthew as he held onto Tony. He remembered that Arthur had found them after they finished eating. It was a miracle that they were not punished too much for running off. In fact, they were just left with a long lecture in the car ride on the way home about how they could've kidnapped.

The door opened and closed. Gilbert had walked into the room. Alfred didn't want to admit it, but his gazes have been lingering upon Gilbert for the last couple of days. He couldn't help himself due to Gilbert's attractiveness to him. Some people might find the albino eccentric looking, even Alfred did at first. But once Alfred gotten past that, he noticed the albino's handsomeness, especially the way his eyes looked whenever Gilbert would look at Alfred.

When Gilbert walked into the room, Alfred quickly banished any improper thoughts he was having towards the German. He watched as the other man made a bee line towards the middle of the room and stood facing Alfred, almost as if he was posing. Alfred slowly stood up from his sitting position and pushing his chair underneath the desk. Gilbert greeted Alfred, "sorry, I'm late. I was stopped on the way here. We both have to do a lie detector test and a PPG test tomorrow. Great, it'll be more fun than having my teeth pulled."

"What's a PPG test? What does it do? I'm sure it can't be any worse than group therapy with Arthur or Elizabeta," Alfred shrugged, oblivious to what he was going to experience the following day.

Gilbert smirked slightly and snuck behind Alfred. He tilted the blonde's chin with his index finger and his thumb, "no one told you what it was yet?"

"N-no," Alfred uncharacteristically stuttered. _Oh man, he's close. He's close, dude. What the hell is wrong with me? _"S-so what is it?"

Gilbert smirked. He wasn't sure what came over him, but he wanted to tease the blonde a little bit, "Well, my little naïve birdie; It's where they put this round tube thing around this particular body part." Gilbert groped Alfred's crotch to make his point. Alfred flinched against him, moaning loudly. Gilbert snickered at Alfred's reaction. He could feel the younger man's clothed arousal in his hand. Gilbert grinned in the blonde's shoulder in triumph. He was the one who provoked the blonde's current state, whether or not Alfred knew of his own lust for the albino. Gilbert let his touch linger for a few more moments before withdrawing his hand and continuing his explanation of what a PPG test was. "While you're hooked up to the tube, it would measure how much of a boner you would get from seeing certain images.

"Not cool, dude," Alfred whined, trying to hide both his blush and another problem below the belt, "you could've just told me or at least warned me when you were going to do that."

Gilbert's expression didn't change. Though, Alfred's actions started to make him wonder about the blonde. Rapists, by their very definition, didn't act like demure schoolgirls. Even if they lost their virginity to their victims, they would still be at least somewhat knowledgeable of sexual matters much like anyone else who lost their virginity. Alfred, however, acted like a sexually inexperienced teenager. Gilbert mentally shook his head. That couldn't be correct; Alfred was convicted of raping his own brother and explained his crime to everyone in group therapy. Something didn't add up.

"You barely even clean up your own side of the room even when I shout at you ten times to clean it up," Gilbert explained, dryly, "what makes you think that you would be able to remember something like that when tomorrow comes?"

"I can so remember! Who the hell are you? Artie?" Alfred pouted.

"Nein, unlike that drunken foster father of yours-" Gilbert saw the shocked look on Alfred's face, "oh, don't look too shocked, I have my ways of finding shit out. As I was saying, unlike Kirkland, I can hold my own alcohol. Oh Gott, I hope I never have to see him drunk wearing nothing but his bed sheets chasing after his imaginary friends. Thanks Francis for the mental images. Now, I'll never get the thought of Kirkland with a tramp stamp of a guitar out of my head!"

So Gilbert really did know quite a bit about Arthur – from Francis. Alfred couldn't help but laugh. Everything Gilbert had said, despite the crude way he put it, was a hundred percent true, especially about Arthur's tattoo. The institute owner actually did have a lower back tattoo of a guitar. Right next to the guitar tattoo was roses with thorns and Pagan symbols. Alfred had no idea what the symbols mean. "The worst part is when he tells me to go back to being eight years old again." Alfred laughs, "But seriously though, can we train now? I'm bored."

"Ja, ja," Gilbert muttered. "You have the same attention span as a ten year old." Alfred quickly mumbled back that Gilbert's statement wasn't true. Gilbert shrugged as a response, "alright, it's time to begin your awesome training with the awesome me. For today's training, we're going to do some standard rough-housing."

"What? No way!" Alfred exclaimed, "what kind of sick joke is that?"

Gilbert just shook his head, "the purpose of rough-housing is to test your reflexes and test what you need to build up, blödmann. How am I supposed to help you fix your weaknesses when I don't even know where they are?"

"There's nothing wrong with my reflexes," Alfred prepared himself mentally for whatever the albino was planning.

"We'll see," Gilbert advanced towards Alfred. Thinking quickly, the blonde quickly put up his arms in a defensive stance, but was completely caught off guard by the sharp pain in his backside followed by the loud slapping sound. Gilbert had spanked him hard. Alfred yelped in surprise and pain, "you asshole, that really hurt!"

"Suck it up," Gilbert chided, "the inmates in here are likely to do worse to you."

Alfred gritted his teeth. His ass still stung. He was sure that the cocky inmate had left a nice handprint on his sore bottom. He charged at Gilbert, trying to get him in a head lock. However, Gilbert avoided getting in Alfred's hold by pushing him away. _This is going to be a lot tougher than I thought._

After a series of playful shoves, jabs, and light punches, Alfred found himself on the floor with Gilbert straddling his waist and holding his wrists above his head in a tight grip. Their position started bring back the same feeling Alfred was feeling 20 minutes ago when Gilbert had touched his vital region. His chest rise and fell every time he inhaled and exhaled due to the adrenaline from his training and from being this close to the albino.

"Well, you're not too bad," Gilbert complimented, "your main weaknesses are the fact that you get distracted way too easily and you let your own emotions cloud your judgment when faced with an opponent."

"What? I can't have any kind of emotions when I'm fighting?" Alfred huffed again, glaring at Gilbert.

Gilbert shook his head, "not here, you can't. Once an inmate knows that you've let your guard down, you're fucked!"

"How do you know so much about fighting?" Alfred questioned him. He knew little about the albino's background, so he was naturally curious about his "teacher."

Gilbert's expression changed to a more serious one, "well, I had to fight to survive ever since I can remember. My own parents were in trouble with the wrong kind of people; the kind of people who would harm kids if they got a chance to. One day, my parents left without a trace. They didn't pack any of their belongings. They just left during the night. Ludwig and I got by on the money my parents kept in a safe I knew the combination for. I think they were saving to buy a new house.

"He and I had everyone fooled for almost six months. We were able to live on our own for that long without anybody even suspecting anything. The rent paid for the utilities and I gave the landlord the rent every month. Eventually the landlord became suspicious and used their key to get in the house. That's when it was discovered that Ludwig and I have been living on our own. We were down to our last couple of marks anyway, it was also a year before us Germans started using the euro. We were both placed within the kurzzeitpflege foster care system until our aunt and uncle were reached." Gilbert left the part out about how Roderich's parents kicked him out shortly afterward.

Alfred was stunned to hear about Gilbert's life. One look into Gilbert's face told him that he was being completely serious. Gilbert had let go of his wrists a while ago while he was telling Alfred how he learned to fight. One of his hands brushed the German's face in a comforting way. Alfred finally spoke up again, "I had to take care of my own little brother as well. There were no creeps after us, but Mattie was bullied in school ever since we first attended school. I don't know if he was bullied before we met when Arthur adopted us, but I remember there had always kids that either picked on him or completely ignored him. The teachers didn't do shit, so I stuck up for him when no one else would."

"Sorry to hear about your brother," Gilbert forced himself to smile a bit, "it's kind of ironic, isn't it? We're both doting brothers before we got put in here."

Alfred grinned as well, "That's the best kind of brother to be, actually."

"Too bad, we ended up being the very thing that hurt our brothers the most," Gilbert felt a pang in his heart when he had said that.

"It's nothing that either of us could change. We just need to move forward and hope that our bros forgive us." With that, Alfred pulled Gilbert's head down so that their lips brushed. They both made a sound of pleasure. Gilbert grinned into the kiss, pleased that Alfred felt the same way that he did. Gilbert opened his mouth slightly to let his tongue snake out of his own mouth and press against Alfred's lips.

Alfred understood what Gilbert was trying to do and opened his own mouth, inviting Gilbert inside. Gilbert's tongue massaged his own. The blond breathed through his nose, something he had learned when he was experimenting with other teens when he was in middle school. Alfred squeaked when he felt one of his nipples getting pinched through his shirt. Gilbert dominated him with his kiss and Alfred couldn't get enough. The German's kisses were like an aphrodisiac to the American.

After a while of making out on the floor, the door suddenly opened and a quiet voice called out to the American. "A-Al?"

* * *

Blödmann - dumbass

Kurzzeitpflege – Literally means Short-term care.

Marks – A type of German currency that is no longer used. It was later replaced with the euro in 1999


	10. The Twins' Reunion

Blinking owlishly over being interrupted, Gilbert got off of Alfred and stood up. He didn't recognize the voice that called out to Alfred and turned around curiously to see who it was. His eyes widen at the sight of the individual. The man was almost mirror image of Alfred. The man had longer hair than Alfred's. Instead of bright blue eyes, the man's eyes were violet. Instead of a cowlick, the man had a long curl on the side of his head. Not to mention that Alfred had a more confident posture than the meek kid that stood by their door. _What the hell is Alfred's twin doing here?_

"Mattie? Wha-? How?" Alfred gaped, "does Artie know you're here?"

"What do you think? Dad allowed me into this place, because he thinks that I'm here to learn more about what he does. If he knew that I came here to see you, we'll both be in trouble! Thank goodness I was able to find where you are through your records in his office," Matthew then turned to Gilbert, "can we have some privacy please?"

"Ja," Gilbert sighed and head out the door. Being interrupted when he was making out with Alfred and being kicked out of his own room was not the highlight of his day. He leaned against the door and listened into the twins' conversation.

"But why, Mattie? I was found guilty of-" Alfred choked up.

"I don't care what the judge and jury thinks," Matthew peered into Alfred's eyes, "I want to hear from you what the hell happened at that party."

"I raped you," Alfred repeated that particular lie again. It's what everyone wanted to hear, right? Alfred suddenly felt his brother slap him across the face, leaving a dully painful red mark on his face.

Matthew shouted, louder than Alfred had ever heard his brother yell before, "You idiot! Stop lying to me, Alfred F. Jones! Tell me the truth for once! I can see it in your eyes that you're fucking lying to me right now!"

Alfred sighed. There was no way anybody would ever believe the truth. The judge and jury didn't. The prosecutor didn't. Arthur didn't. His public defender barely even argued his side during trial. Would Matthew believe him when no one else would? Alfred finally worked up the nerve to tell Matthew what happened, "when we split at the party, I went to get baked. I thought I was just going to share a joint with a couple of bros, but I ended up getting shit-faced on Everclear, because one of them forgot the pot. I know it sounds bad, but that's what happened. I went to look for you, because I didn't hear back from ya. I searched the whole house for you. When I found you, you were-"

Alfred tried to hold back the tears that forming, "You were lying on the bed, face down, unconscious with blood o-on th-th-the bed. I tried to call out to you, but you wouldn't answer. I rushed over to you and s-saw that you had been r-r-raped. I wrapped you up in the bloody sheets and called the cops. I was so scared. I couldn't stand to see you like that. I carried you into the bathroom and into the bathtub. I turned the shower on, hoping that would wake you up, dude. I also cleaned you off before the cops had arrived."

"Oh Al," Matthew started to tear up, "I hate this! I wish I never went to that stupid party. It did nothing but ruin my life and I lost you in the process. I believe you, Alfred, but that's what makes everything much harder. My rapist or rapists are still out there and will never see justice, because the courts convicted you of it."

"Shh, Mattie," Alfred hugged his brother, trying to get him to calm down, "I'll be out in seven years and we'll be able to see each other again."

Matthew smiled, "maybe not even that long."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Alfred sent his twin a questioning gaze.

"I looked into it. You can appeal your conviction or take an Alford plea."

"What the hell is an Alford plea?" Alfred asked.

"It's where you still maintain your innocence, but you would admit that the court system had enough evidence to put you away," Matthew explained. Matthew had no idea which would be an easier route to take; Alfred getting exonerated or Alfred taking the Alford plea. Matthew wasn't a law major or a corrections major, he was studying psychology like Arthur did years ago back when the institute owner still lived in England.

"Yeah, there's just one problem with that," Alfred frowned, "I don't have a decent lawyer and there is no way Artie is going to fork over any money for one. He didn't do it during my trial and he's more than likely not going to do it now."

"I'll work on Dad. You just hang in there."

"So, what have you been doing lately?" Alfred asked, quickly changing the topic.

Matthew shrugged casually, "Oh, not too much. College has been pretty hectic for me, but I've been managing. I also have a part-time job at a pancake restaurant that pays a pretty decent wage. Seems like the only time I have for fun is when I play hockey. I've also been staying with Dad in order to save up money for when I get my own place in a year or so."

"You're now a college student, huh," Matthew being in college was no surprise to him. Matthew had always been a studious, diligent student. Alfred, himself, slacked off throughout high school. Even to the point where he joked that lunch time was his favorite subject. In reality, Alfred did well in shop class and in science classes and managed to get a C average throughout school. He could've gotten higher grades in school if he just studied more. Matthew was destined to do great things in the future and Alfred's future seemed uncertain at the moment.

Alfred started to reminisce about a simpler time before the mess started, "Remember when we both graduated high school?"

Matthew nodded, "yeah, I remember. It was only a year ago, Al. You were way ahead of me in line when we got our diplomas. Dad was yelling out to us from the front row. We both wouldn't stop crying, because we both believed that the end of high school was end of all the drama and bullshit of our lives. Not to mention that it was a major accomplishment."

"I wasn't crying, shut up dude!" Alfred huffed; he smiled remembering Arthur's kindness towards him that day. How proud of him Arthur was during his high school graduation. "I also remember that Arthur was waiting for us after the ceremony and give us both a bouquet of roses. Then we went to that family diner to celebrate."

"Yeah, I remember that too," It was Matthew's turn to change the subject, "so what's going on between you and that one albino guy? You two looked pretty cozy when I walked in."

Alfred blushed, "he's pretty cool. He's one of the couple of people who has my back in this place."

"Just `pretty cool?'" Matthew teased, "He seems to be more than that with the way that you're blushing. So come on, spill the details."

"Heroes don't kiss and tell," Alfred folded his arms, defiantly.

Matthew quickly tugged onto Alfred's cowlick, "Come on, Al. I know how much you want to tell me all about it."

"No! Let go of it. You know what that piece of hair does!" Alfred's face light up like a Christmas tree. He struggled against the hold his suddenly mischievous twin had on his hair.

"Come on, Al. Tell me!" Matthew giggled.

"All right, I'll tell you," Alfred squeaked, his face now resembling a tomato, "we hugged, kissed, made out, and saw each other naked. Satisfied?"

"Al!" Matthew playfully shoved the other blond, "I didn't need to hear the last part!"

Alfred spoke in a stage whisper, smirking. "He's also got a pretty good sized dick as well. I should know, I seen it when him and I both were taking a shower."

"Al!" Matthew covered his ears, "I don't want to hear anymore."

Alfred waited until his twin uncovered his ears, "So what do you think of Gilbert?"

"His name is Gilbert?" Matthew thought for a moment, "He seems alright from what I've seen and heard from you."

Alfred then popped the next question, "do you think it would be a good idea for me to think about going steady with him? Even though, there's still the fact that I'm still a virgin."

"Honestly, Al," Matthew didn't think it was such a good idea. He, himself, barely knew Gilbert, but Arthur had explained the color code of the inmates' shirts in the faculty before Matthew had even step foot into the place. The shirt Gilbert wore put Matthew on edge. He feared for his brother's own safety and was afraid of the man hurting Alfred. He choose his next words carefully to avoid upsetting Alfred, "I won't date anyone here, but if you believe that Gilbert is good for you, then go ahead and go out with him. Just be careful, okay Al?"

"I will," Alfred nodded, "are you seeing anyone at the moment?"

Matthew shook his head, "I'm not really seeing anyone at the moment. There's this one girl from Belgium, but I have no idea how she feels about me. We're just friends."

"You should try to talk to her about sometime and ask her out. She might say yes to you or she might not. You've got nothing to lose if you ask her" Alfred suggested.

Matthew checked the digital clock on Alfred's side of the room and frowned, "I'll think about it, Al. Anyway, I have to go before Dad starts getting suspicious. I'll see you whenever I can again." The twins embraced each other as if that hug was going to be their last. Matthew pulled away after a couple of minutes and waved goodbye to him, carefully exiting out of the door.

Gilbert returned back into the room and gave the younger man a strange look, "I've heard everything."

Matthew hurried along the hallway until he reached the door to Arthur's office. He turned the doorknob, only to find that the door was locked. He could barely hear anything from the other side of the door. "It's me, Dad. Open up!"

"Just a moment," Arthur called out from behind the door. When the door opens a few minutes later, the horrid stench of liquor wafted in the air, most likely coming from the disheveled man who just answered the door. Arthur's hair was unkempt and his shirt's first few buttons were unbuttoned, revealing two hickeys upon his chest that looked like they were made a couple of days previous. Matthew didn't even want to think about who his father was possibly seeing. A quick scan around Arthur's office revealed that only Arthur, a thermo cup sitting beside Arthur's desk, and a mountain of paperwork was the only ones that occupied the space.

Matthew stared at his father, speechless. It was one thing to drink in the comfort of his home. Matthew was used to Arthur's drunken shenanigans. However, it was another thing to drink at work.

"C-come on in lad, don't just bloody stand there." Arthur slurred.

Matthew pinched the bridge of his nose and followed Arthur inside of his office, quickly shutting and locking the door behind him. He had a feeling that he was going to spend the remainder of his time at the institute dumping out the liquor that was in the themo cup into a bathroom sink and making sure Arthur doesn't do anything that could cost him his job. As if he wasn't doing that already!


	11. The Rain Keeps Falling Down

Scrubbing the kitchen after a particular Italian woman was finished with it was hard work. Luckily that was not the case for the fair-haired German that day. Even though, it was Feliciana's day off, Feliciana spent the day snoozing on the couch. Or as the Italian put, she was taking her siesta.

He loved her, he really did. However, he wished she could be more serious when it comes to particular matters. All the Italian seems to be serious about is cooking, singing, and painting. When it came down to bills, other responsibilities, and even her own self-protection, the Italian woman was completely inept and ran to him whenever a new trouble had arisen.

One particular example of this was when Feliciana fell down the stairs once before she had gotten pregnant. Feliciana cried out to him for help, bawling her eyes out. When he arrived in the room, Feliciana whimpered pathetically and held out her arms, in an attempt to get picked up by the muscular German. He gave in and carried her over to the couch. When he inspected her, the only injury she had was a bruise on her leg.

_They first met when the German man went hiking in the woods. The weather was not the most perfect weather to go hiking in. It was hot and humid outside. The weather attracted mosquitoes that made a meal upon their unfortunate victims like miniature blood-sucking vampires. Ludwig was trying to swat away the little bloodsuckers when he heard a feminine cry coming from the forest. _

_The German at first dismissed the cry as something minor such as someone who yelped in surprise after taking a dip into the lake. However, the cries increased in volume and frequency. He knew that someone was obviously in trouble. He wasn't the type to go gung-ho and rescue a complete stranger, but someone was obviously in trouble and he couldn't leave the woman there to fend for herself._

_The German man had navigated his way through the forest. He didn't have much to find out where the wails were coming from, he just followed his sense of hearing. He soon got a look at a head of brunette hair in the distance surround by the numerous trees. Ludwig rushed over to the woman to find her crying into the tree._

_"Romano! Romano! Mio fratello? I'm scared. Help me! Help me!" She cried out, breathing heavily from yelling._

_The man had approached her carefully and placed a comforting hand upon her trembling shoulder. She cried out in surprise and turned towards him."Ma'am," He tried to calm her down, "Ma'am, what's wrong?"_

_"I-I've lost my brother, Romano. I don't know where he is and I can't find my way out of this forest." The Italian woman sniffled._

_The German just nodded, "I'll help you find your way out."_

_"Thank you, sir!" She hugged him tightly, beaming at her new `savior,' "If you don't mind me asking, what is your name?"_

_"My name is Ludwig Beilschmidt, what's yours?" Ludwig groaned at the tight hold the woman had on his midsection._

_The Italian woman released him from her hold, "my name is Feliciana Daisy Vargas. It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope we can become good friends."_

_"It's a pleasure to meet you too." Ludwig blushed at the woman's comment about them becoming friends, he stared at his boots as he led the brunette down the right path, "that - sounds nice. You know, I've never had a friend before."_

_"So what do you do?" Feliciana asked him._

_Ludwig looked at her, "I used to be a car mechanic, but I was let go due to an incident that happened." Ludwig was let go, because he refused to service someone, because the individual made obscene comments about how he was going to tie some "drunken bitch" to the bed and have his way with her. Ludwig lost his temper with the customer and was fired because of it. He was fired a month after his own brother was arrested. "I'm now unemployed." Ludwig added with shame written across his face._

_"That's alright," Feliciana caressed the German's broad muscular shoulders, "wow, you are in shape. How do you get your muscles to look toned without them looking veiny and scary?" One look from the German was all it look for the fragile woman to change the topic. "I currently work at the Kirkland Institute. They pay me good money to do what I love doing best."_

_"Wait, you work in the sex offender institute? Why?" He looked at her incredulously. A woman like her worked with criminals? How did an attractive woman like her manage to work with perverts? Couldn't she get hurt? Of course, Ludwig knew that anyone could become a victim of sexual assault like he did, but he was still concerned for the cheerful lady that walked beside him. _

_Ludwig knew first hand that people like that were like vicious dogs. They lure their victims into a false sense of trust and then take advantage of their victims when their deviant desires finally come out like a savage beast coming out of the shadows. He trusted Gilbert until that one night. He still remembered the stale smell of alcohol that emitted off of his brother's body and breath, the way that the rope he was tied up with chaffed his skin, the degrading shameful words that Gilbert whispered into his ear, and the knot in his stomach at the thought of his own brother, the person he trusted the most, was the one who violated him in such a disgusting way._

_"I like to paint just like Grandpa Alexander does. I'm in charge of the art room at Kirkland Institute. If a one of the prisoners is a big ol' meanie, the guards would take care of them," Feliciana's response put some of his well-intended worries to rest._

_"I've noticed that you've got quite a bit of an accent. Are you Italian?" Ludwig questioned. He noticed it when he first gotten close to her and heard her voice clearly. _

_"Si, I'm from Florence," The brunette confirmed, "Your accent is a bit strange too. What country are you from?"_

_"I'm German. I was born in Berlin and spent my childhood there." Ludwig slowed down his pace in order for Feliciana to catch up. It was kind of awkward for him to converse with the other person. The simple casual interaction with the woman felt pleasantly awkward to him. He mostly tried to avoid people all of his life due to his own paranoia of the intentions of others. The only three people that he even remotely considered to be his friends in his life were Gilbert, Roderich, and Elizabeta. _

_"Is it true that Germans love sausage, potatoes, and beer?" She asked him, wondering if the stereotype had any truth to it._

_Ludwig wasn't offended by the question. In fact, he's heard worse stereotypes about Germans. Some of which he would prefer not to remember, "Well, I can't speak for all Germans, but I like beer, potatoes, and sausage. Do you like pasta?"_

_"I love pasta," Feliciana nodded eagerly. "I'm quite good at it too. My Grandpa Alexander taught me how to make it. If we ever see each other again, I'll make you some."_

_"That would be nice," Ludwig quickly got out a post-it pad and a pen that was in his pocket and jotted down his phone number and handed it to her, "if you need anything, feel free to give me a call."_

Unlike most clichéd book plots that Ludwig had read, their love was not a case of love at first sight. The Italian annoyed Ludwig at first, driving him batty by stopping over at his house at odd hours of the day, calling him constantly whenever she was upset or scared, and sleeping in various areas at his house. She even crawled into bed with him when they weren't dating. Ludwig still had no idea how she even got into his house in the first place.

Then feelings started to develop when they became closer. Feliciana would flirt with him and compliment him. He couldn't help himself but tease her right back. He couldn't help, but notice how her bright mocha eyes glistened as she looked upon him with affection, the fluid way she would sway her hips as she walked, and he loved the cute curl on the side of her head as well.

Eventually they started dating and after a while of dating her, Ludwig started having sex with her. Ludwig was hesitant at first about slipping his member inside of her for fear that she would be in unbearable pain. The same unbearable pain he was in when Gilbert forced himself inside of him. After some coaxing from his lover, he was able to get over his fear of hurting her and made love to her. She wasn't a virgin, but that didn't matter to him. The only thing that mattered to him is that she loved him and trusted him with her life. What he didn't expect was her telling him that he was a "tender lover that knew how to treat a woman right."

Now here they both are. Feliciana is now pregnant and he's about to be a new father to her unborn child. On one hand, he was excited to become a new parent; on the other hand, it still scared the shit of him. He and Gilbert were abandoned by their parents who left without a trace. The closest thing he had to a father for most of his life was his older brother. He wondered what kind of parent he would be. He wondered if his son or daughter would grow up to love or hate him. He wondered if it was even possible for him to become a good parent and husband with all of the bad role models around him. He wanted to be there for Feliciana and their child. He would stay beside them through hell and high water, but that didn't mean that he wasn't still apprehensive about parenthood.

Ludwig poured himself a beer and headed outside. It had been raining for the last hour or so. Without any thunder or lightening, the rain was tranquil. Rain water poured out of the eavestrough, reminding him of those bamboo fountains at the mall he went to, to look at the baby cribs on display there. The cool breeze tickled Ludwig's face and arms. The water from the eavestrough dripped onto the glass patio table.

Ludwig stared into the yard at the lush flowers as the rain dripped upon them, giving the flowers their nutrients. He quickly downed his beer and sat it upon the patio table. He walked slowly to the wooden patio swing and relaxed upon it, not minding the fact that the swing was wet due to the weather. Ludwig tilted his head back and let all of his worries slip away. The swing was underneath a large oak tree that was probably been there for about 50 years or so, judging by its size. Ludwig let the rain water pelt on his cheek, caressing the skin.

After a while, Ludwig decided that it was time for him to return back to the house. The water from the eavestrough had almost filled the cup to the rim. He quickly tossed the water over the side of the porch before heading inside to check on the ditzy mother-to-be.

"I've heard everything." Gilbert had given Alfred a strange look. He was disappointed that Alfred wouldn't tell him that he was wrongfully convicted. The fact that Alfred was a virgin and the fact that Alfred spoke highly of his awesome cock rang in his mind. He had a feeling that something was off. Alfred didn't seem like the rest of the inmates at Kirkland Institute. Gilbert couldn't quite put a finger on what it could be until he overheard the conversation he had with his twin.

Gilbert felt more of a need to protect Alfred than ever before. However, some dark recess of his mind was also telling him to claim Alfred before anyone else did. How good Alfred would feel inside and how sexy Alfred would in the throes of pleasure. Gilbert's current situation was kind of like that song from Depeche Mode that he heard more than a few times as a teenager. The song was about a guy who wanted to get a fifteen year old before anyone else of "his kind" did and not blaming them for wanting the teen. Yeah, this was his current situation, except his situation was not quite as ephebophilic as the song was.

He thought back to one of his group sessions with the foster father of the blond he was having lustful thoughts about. Arthur was explaining Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche. The one where the superego (the structural side of humans that follows norms and rules) and the id (the animalistic side of humans) constantly battled it out and the ego mediated between the two extremes. That also applied to his situation as well.

"You what?" Alfred looked at him, hoping that Gilbert wasn't referring to his and Matthew's private conversation.

"I've. Heard. Everything, Birdie," Gilbert folded his arms, "you were wrongfully convicted of raping your brother. Don't even think about lying to me about it either."

"Yeah, I was," Alfred muttered, not really wanting to get into a fight with Gilbert, "so what?"

"So what? So what?!" In a flash, Gilbert gripped Alfred's arms, shaking him. His eyes burned like red flames, "You're in a prison institute with sex offenders and that doesn't bother you?"

Alfred pushed Gilbert back to stop him from shaking him anymore, "I don't exactly have the money to hire a good attorney and Artie isn't going to hand over the money for one anytime soon."

"If money is an issue, I can get a hold of my idiot cousin and he can help you," Gilbert was sure Roderich would pay for an attorney for the kid if he explained the situation. Roderich was the one who helped him get an attorney when he was in trouble.

Alfred shook his head, stubbornly, "I'm not going to take your cousin's money."

"You don't have a choice, sweetheart," Gilbert tsked at the blonde's stubbornness. Here he was trying to help the blonde and he stubbornly refuses his help, because it's not his dad's money. What a fucking brat! "I'm calling him later, whether you like it or not."

Alfred groaned in defeat. Neither one of them wanted to admit defeat. The rest of the day passed in awkward silence. It was after dinner when Gilbert used one of the payphones. He still didn't pay any mind to Alfred's stubbornness. He was going to get Alfred the help he needed. Even if it meant that his time getting to know him would be cut short. Alfred still had a few weeks to appeal his conviction if Gilbert had done his math right.

It was a good thing that Gilbert didn't use the phone a lot. The institute had limit upon how much an inmate could use the phone per month. It wasn't as if he was friendless! No, he was just too awesome to be clingy to friends. Yeah, that's it! He dialed the numbers to his cousin's house and listened to the phone ring.

"Hallo Elizabeta, are you coming home soon?" Roderich asked over the phone.

The German snickered quietly and joked in his best falsetto voice, "Oh kedvesem! You know I have to work late again! I'll make it up to you, I promise! I'll put on a strap-on and put it in your tight ass! You know that thick long one that you like!"

"Oh, it's you," The Austrian muttered irritably which caused Gilbert cackle uncontrollably, "can you cut down on the lewdness? Some of us work and had a long day."

Gilbert cackle's increase in volume, "Had a hard day at work? You teach elementary school brats how to play the piano. Your job must be so hard!"

"I'd like to see you be a music teacher," Roderich replied, snarkily, "so what do you want? I hope you didn't just call me just to make rude comments about my marriage or my career."

Gilbert stopped laughing at his cousin, "Well there is one thing I need you to do for me."

"What a surprise," His cousin scoffed.

"Shut up, you ass!" Prussia huffed, "it's for a good friend of mine."

"Now that's quite a surprise," Roderich chuckled a bit, "you normally don't think of anyone but yourself."

"Yeah, it's for a really good friend, because I'm awesome like that," Gilbert tried to ignore the headache coming along from trying to explain his current situation, "he's been wrongfully convicted of a crime and got sent here. His asshole family likely won't help him pay for a lawyer to help him make his first appeal."

"Eh, why would you help someone that you don't even know very well?" He knew as well as Gilbert did that someone trying to get a first appeal is someone that is new to the faculty. His mind reeled at how much it would cost to pay for an attorney.

Gilbert sighed, "look, I'll even gay-marry him in a civil union if it means that you would help him, verdammt."

"Marry him? I'm definitely worried now. Is the world about to end?" Roderich dryly joked, "You would never agree to marry anyone, ever."

"Look, would you please help him?" Prussia asked seriously, gritting his teeth.

Roderich sighed, "We'll talk about it in a couple of days when I come over to the institute. From what I heard from Elizabeta, she and I are still on the visitors list. Also, I want to meet this mystery man that you are so desperate for my help to save."

"Alright, fine," Gilbert puffed out his cheeks, "I'll introduce you to Alfred. Be warned, he's too awesome for you!"

"I'll be prepared for that," Gilbert could hear the sarcasm in his cousin's voice. "Anyway, I'm going to bed. Good night, Gilbert."

Gilbert heard the phone hang up and put the phone on the hook. He headed back to his room 30 minutes before the guards and staff announces lights out and saw that the room was lit up from the overhead lights. He strolled in and saw that the blonde curled up on his cot, looking around the room, paranoid. A horror book was laid on the floor beside the bed, which looked like it had been thrown.

"What's wrong? Did someone try to mess with you again?" Gilbert looked at him concerned, walking slowly to the blond.

"The-the ghost in the book! Oh my God!" Alfred yelled out, shuddering, "it's probably in this room watching me. I don't think I can sleep tonight."

Gilbert shook his head and smirked. All of that over a ghost story? In a way, Alfred's reaction was kind of cute. However, Gilbert didn't fancy being keep up all night over it. Gilbert thought of an idea of how he would get any sleep tonight, "Hey Alfred, would you feel any better if we scoot our beds together? I'll be your `backup' if anything goes wrong."

"That sounds fine," Alfred nodded, still shuddering, slowly getting up from the bed, watching Gilbert walk to the other side of the room. Gilbert pulled his cot away from the wall and watched as Alfred went to other side of the bed to help him carry it across the room. Surprisingly, Alfred could carry the whole bed on his own without breaking a sweat.

"Well, I guess it's time for bed," Gilbert replied as he was helping Alfred align their beds together.

Alfred nodded quietly, looking around for any ghosts. The nineteen year old gingerly got on his side of the bed and shuddered as he lay down on the bed. Gilbert went to shut their lights off and navigated his way towards the beds.

The blonde was still shivering like a leaf. Gilbert flopped down on his side of the bed tried to rest against the pillow. The blonde still wouldn't get over the ghost story in the book. _Why did he even read it in the first place if he was going to be scared by it? _Gilbert wrapped his arm around Alfred and pulled the blond close to him, the blonde's neck was close to his mouth, close enough to taste. Gilbert laid soft, lazy kisses upon his jugular vein, leaving a small faint trial of saliva upon Alfred's neck.

"W-what are you doing?" Alfred asked, stopping his shivering.

Gilbert smiled against his neck, "I'm just helping you calm down. Judging by your reaction, it worked quite well."

"Goodnight Gilbert." The blond yawned as he was minutes away from falling asleep, feeling safe in Gilbert's arms.

* * *

The Depeche Mode song Gilbert was thinking about in this chapter was "Question of Time." You can find it on Youtube.

_Mio fratello: My brother_

Kedvesem (Hungarian): Dear/honey/sweetheart


	12. Toy?

Gilbert had woken up the next day, groggily. The first thing that he noticed was the smell of shampoo and the warmth that was pressed against his body. Gilbert relaxed against the warm body against him. He felt as ease against the heat emitting from Alfred. He had a feeling that Alfred was going to be his new snuggle buddy after Gilbird. He noticed that Alfred had forgotten to take his glasses off before he had went to bed and fell asleep in them.

He looked at Alfred's neck next to notice that he didn't leave much of a mark upon Alfred. An idea popped into his head. He imagined how cute Alfred would look with his love mark against that smooth sun-kissed flesh. He tilted his head towards the exposed neck and opened his mouth to taste Alfred's neck again. He nuzzled upon Alfred's neck as he held Alfred against him. His teeth grazed against the younger man's neck.

Twitching his face, Alfred moaned out tiredly. Gilbert continued his assault on Alfred's neck. Alfred's eyes opened to slits when he thrashed against the albino. "What are you doing to my neck? Oww, that kind of hurts!"

"I was just leaving my awesome mark on your neck," Gilbert replied, unabashedly brazen.

Alfred groaned as Gilbert pulled away from his neck, "I don't want a damn hickey! How am I supposed to hide it from everyone?"

"That's the whole point of placing one on your neck, so everyone in this damn shithole would know not to mess with you," Gilbert planted a smooch upon Alfred's cheek.

"You ass!" Alfred whimpered, adjusting his pants so that Gilbert wouldn't see his growing problem, "My neck is very sensitive!" Then Alfred admitted his growing problem quietly, "you also got me hard too." Alfred frowned when Gilbert let out a laugh, "it's not funny!"

"No, it's not," Gilbert was still grinning, cupping the blonde's groin eliciting a cry of pleasure from his younger lover. Gilbert caressed his cheek and whispered to him, silkily, "If you want to, I can help you take care of it."

"Umm, yes. I mean no! I don't even know," Alfred confessed his indecisiveness, "I just don't want to go all the way."

Gilbert smiled sincerely as he placed a kiss upon Alfred's temple. "Don't worry, liebe. I'm not planning on fucking you until you want to."

"If that's the case, I don't mind you jerking me off and sucking me off," Alfred said, looking into Gilbert's eyes to read his expression when he granted the albino consent for him to touch him.

Gilbert grinned at Alfred incredulously, not believing that Alfred wanted him to be the one who sucked him off. He felt like he was dreaming. Someone who had mutual feelings for him loving him back. He no longer had to suppress his own desires for Alfred. Alfred wanted him to do sexual things to him, even though it wouldn't be sex; it still would satiate his desires. Well, at least for now. "You're completely awesome, birdie! Don't worry, Alfred. I can make you feel extremely good."

Both men embraced in post-orgasmic bliss. Gilbert felt the blonde nuzzle against his neck. Both of their spent lengths rubbed against each other as the two relaxed in each other's arms. Alfred's pants and underwear were tossed to some part of the room and Gilbert's pants and underwear was around his knees. Gilbert let his gaze linger upon Alfred's pink tinted cheeks and closed eyes. Alfred was still breathing heavy from his orgasm. His heartstrings were tugged at the site. Alfred looked angelic and adorable.

It was hard for Gilbert to speak without hurting. Damn kid! He's the reason why his throat and especially his uvula hurt in the first place. Alfred in the state of pleasure had thrust up his pelvis when Gilbert was sucking the nineteen year old inmate's cock, trying to get more of his cock into Gilbert's mouth. Gilbert couldn't really stay mad at the blond, but he still planned on getting Alfred back for that one of these days. He didn't have the gag reflex of a fucking snake, damn it!

Still though, he didn't mind the rest of it. The way the blond would tremble in pleasure when his dick was getting sucked. The way Alfred became very vocal during the act. The faces Alfred made when he moaned out the German's name. The soft touch of Alfred's hand upon his cock as Alfred jacked him off as he pleasured the American. The salty sweet taste of Alfred's cum upon his tongue. If the feelings he had for his brother was an addictive drug, the feelings he had for Alfred was a new and even stronger drug that coursed through his veins like a wildfire.

"Gilbert?" Alfred broke the peaceful silence between them.

Gilbert looked at the blonde questioningly, still a bit dazed from his bliss. "Hmm? What's wrong, my awesome birdie?"

"Can we do this again some other time? I really liked it," Alfred whispered lovingly.

Gilbert chuckled, "you can have it any time you want it, Alfred."

Alfred got up an hour later to change and check out his neck in the mirror. The mark on his neck was a vivid rouge color with purple markings where Gilbert's teeth had been. The mark was too dark not to be noticed by anyone who crossed his path. Despite the wonderful time he had with Gilbert, he was still annoyed at the cocky man for giving him a hickey.

He heard the water running in the bathroom that adjoined their bedroom. Alfred wasn't even sure if it could even be called a bathroom. The room had a porcelain toilet and a sink. There was no private shower in the bathroom. Alfred could tell by the sounds that Gilbert was in there brushing his teeth for the day.

The door creaked as it was opened. Arthur strolled in standing erect with his hands behind his back. Arthur grimaced at Alfred, more importantly at Alfred's neck. The Englishman winced as much as any parent with a wayward adult child with a deep, dark hickey would. "Beilschmidt, get in here!" He barked his order at the man in the bathroom. Arthur gazed sourly at Alfred, his voice barely going past a harsh whisper. "I thought I've raised you better than this. I thought I've raised you to be a respectable young man. Though if you want to be used as a prisoner's toy and become a sex offender, that's your business, right? I certainly didn't raise you to do half of the rubbish you've done to disappoint me."

As much as he hated to admit it, Arthur's words had stung him in way that he couldn't even imagine. He couldn't tell if he wanted to punch his foster father or start bawling in front of him. He probably wouldn't even be in the situation if Arthur had believed him in the first place and had helped him out. He could only shoot Arthur a deadly look.

Alfred sat in uncomfortable silence as he heard Gilbert rush to finish spitting out toothpaste. He wondered how his relationship with his own foster father went so wrong. He started to remember the catalyst to his estranged relationship with Arthur.

_Alfred was trying to sleep one autumn night. The thirteen year old tossed and turned in his bed, staring up at his Styrofoam planet model mobile that hung from his ceiling. His guardian had let in two strange individuals into their house and was more than likely still accompanying them. Both of the men that entered the house were both abnormal looking. The first man with light brown hair wore red velvet garments and had fang implants that made him look like a vampire. The other man was donned fine leather and a velvet hooded cloak that hide his hair. The man's face was covered with a Venetian mask. The only feature of the man that was not hidden was the man's blue eyes._

He preferred not to remember the scene that took place that night in Arthur's study or what Arthur liked to refer to as his "altar." The degrading things that the vampire man with the strange accent did to Arthur and call him while the masked man watched was something that Alfred never wanted to see ever again. Yet Arthur had the gall to tell him that he was the one that was being used as a "toy."

Gilbert walked out of the bathroom and wrapped his arms around Alfred, resting his chin upon Alfred's shoulder. Since he knew of Alfred's feelings for him, he didn't see a reason not to be more openly affectionate towards him, even if it was in front the institute owner who also happened to be Alfred's foster father. "So, what's going on? You're obviously not here to chit-chat with the awesome me and Alfred." He questioned Arthur, whose fists was shaking at seeing them two together.

"You both have a PPG graph and a lie detector test scheduled for today after group therapy. If one or both of you decide to skive off, you both will be penalized for it. I'll be keeping a close eye on both of you, so watch your steps," Arthur quickly exited the room, in a huff.

"You can remove the gerbil from your ass at anytime, Kirkland," Gilbert yelled at the open door, "it might help you feel better to where you're not as much of a dick!" Alfred looked at the doorway, apprehensively to see if Arthur overheard Gilbert's insolent words. Alfred exhaled loudly when Arthur didn't return. Alfred felt Gilbert pat him on the arm. "Don't worry about him, liebe. He's a dick and you can't change someone's personality." Gilbert wrapped his arms around Alfred's waist in a comforting matter. "We'll get through today without any issues to spite the prick." Gilbert pecked Alfred on the cheek.

Stepping into the group therapy didn't help ease Alfred's guilt one bit. He felt guilty about his own feelings for Gilbert, thanks to the Brit's scathing tongue. None of Gilbert's sweet caresses, kisses, or words helped Alfred feel any better. He felt like a slut. He felt like a slut for his feelings for Gilbert. Ivan staring at his neck made him feel even more self-conscious about what happened between him and Gilbert.

"You two look very attached to each other now, non?" Gilbert turned to see Francis grinning at him, waggling his eyebrows.

"You think I'm jumping the gun on this one," It was more of a question than it was a statement.

"You're asking the wrong person that question, mon ami," Francis shrugged, "Mon ex-femme and the mother of my daughter, as beautiful and wonderful as she was, she was only supposed to be a one-night stand. However, several months of amour passionneé, I impregnated her and married her. Not because I had to, I married her because I wanted to."

"I didn't know you have a daughter," That is one thing that Gilbert can say about Francis; the man was full of surprises, "how long were you married for?"

"Oui, my daughter is the same age as your little blond friend there," Francis pointed towards Alfred's direction. Alfred was chatting enthusiastically to Kiku about video games, "I was married to her mother for ten years. My ex-wife and I fought over where to live. I wanted to stay in Paris and she hated it in France and wanted to go back to her home country. Long story short, we divorced and she took my daughter with her."

"It's hard to imagine that you and Antonio are almost forty," Gilbert joked. Francis scoffed and mumbled that he was still young.

Antonio leaned towards the two and chimed in, "well, it's kind of hard to imagine you as the cute kid who played around in Teutonic knight costumes."

Once the trio showed each other pictures of when they were younger. Neither Gilbert nor Francis saw the harm of showing Antonio pictures of them when they were children. They both knew of his past, but it wasn't like Antonio could molest the children in the photos. Gilbert was shocked of how much Antonio could read what he and Francis were like as children just from seeing a few photos. Antonio predicted that Gilbert was a rambunctious child who calmed down when he found something that he found adorable and lived in an unsafe environment. What Antonio said about him as a kid was surprisingly accurate.

So accurate that Gilbert almost believed that Antonio would be perfect as a daycare worker. Almost. While the Spaniard seemed like he would be great at understanding and getting along with kids, there was one obvious reason why Gilbert was wary about Antonio being around children. In fact, if Gilbert had met Antonio two decades ago, he probably would've been molested like the other children that Antonio had been fond of. It was extremely unnerving to think about, but it wasn't something that Gilbert was going to lose his friendship with the man over.

"Gilbert, you might want to be careful today," Francis warned, "the dungeon master to this place is in one of his moods today."

The albino snorted, "That would explain why he came into Alfred's and my room this morning with an attitude from hell."

"Oui, I also was caught in the crossfire of his ire this morning," Francis nodded, "he confiscated the CD I was listening to. He couldn't appreciate the work of Monsieur Serge Gainsbourg's `Love on the Beat' and referred to it as `perverted French trash.' His attempts at removing so-called harmful material are very reminiscent of the old book-burnings that happened in history books."

"Sorry to hear about that, man. Sobriety must be one hell of a bitch when Kirkland is considered."

"I doubt a few days can be considered sobriety, mi amigo." Antonio chimed in. "that hombre drinks like a fish."

Gilbert quickly turned his head towards Alfred's direction to check up on the blond. After noticing that Alfred was alright, Gilbert quickly turned his head back towards the duo in front of him. "So, Antonio. Has any inmates been giving you shit lately?"

"No, thankfully," Antonio exhaled deeply, "you think in a place with only other sex offender inmates that it would be safer than prison. But instead, I've got black-shirts and red-shirts who want to hurt me here, because my crimes are against children."

"I understand that feeling," Gilbert patted Antonio on the shoulder like someone would pat a child in order for them to calm down. "I get hell over what I done to Ludwig. Incest isn't a favorite around here. Neither is being gay. Other inmates just pick on 'weaker' inmates in order to claim themselves the big, bad sex offenders on this joint." Gilbert glanced over at Alfred again.

"I doubt your little lover is going anywhere, mon ami," Francis joked.

Gilbert pouted slightly, "I can't help it!"

"I'm not judging you. I've been in your situation myself, twice in fact. With my ex-wife and with a gentleman I've known since childhood."

"I've also been your situation too," Antonio chimed in, "my little Lovino was so cute when he was a kid. He was so feisty and pouty. That cute little rascal is still like that today. Never before have I ever seen an adult as cute as him."

"You in love with an adult? That's quite a shock, Antonio! You're fucking with me, right? There's no way that you could-" Gilbert joked.

"Why is it such a shock?" Antonio questioned them, oblivious to why Gilbert considered the possibility of him considering an adult to be the love of his life so mind-boggling. Though, the thought of Lovino rarely coming to visit him made Antonio a bit morose. Perhaps Lovino would finally come visit him someday . . . "When we get out of here, I wouldn't mind having a drink with you two. If I can have this much fun with you two sober and locked up. I wonder how much fun you two would be under the influence."

"That would be an excellent idea, Antonio," Francis nodded, "I can get some very good champagne and the three of us would have a blast."

"No champagne for me, thanks," Antonio shook his head, grinning, "Sangria is a better type of wine, Francis. You should try it some time."

"While you two winos sip on your sissy drinks, I'll be having a manly drink," Gilbert shot back, "I only drink schnapps and beer. Oh well, I suppose that we can find a bar that would serve us all three what we want."

A warm hand grasps Gilbert's bicep. Gilbert cocked his head to see Alfred snuggle against his arm, looking like he was seconds away from dozing off. Gilbert wrapped his arm around Alfred and leaned against the blond. Gilbert smiled at how adorable Alfred looked and relaxed against him. He felt Francis and Antonio looking at him and turned to glare at them. Both men leered at the two, as if they seen a naked clown walk into the room. Gilbert mouthed silently for the two to quit staring at them. He didn't want his friends to ruin the moment for him.

After the typical dull group therapy session had ended, Gilbert led Alfred to the rooms where the PPG and lie detector test was located. Alfred looked extremely skittish as he walked alongside Gilbert. Gilbert couldn't help but to chuckle at the sight. "Relax, liebe. This isn't the type of test that you could pass or fail at. Just go in there and let them treat you like a lab rat. It'll be over before you know it."

"That's not very comforting, you jackass!" Alfred pouted, not wanting to go through with either procedure.

Gilbert smirked lightheartedly and pecked Alfred on the lips, "you'll be just fine. I promise!"

* * *

Sorry for the wait. If anyone has enough free time to look up the lyrics to some of the songs on Serge Gainsbourg's album `Love on a Beat,' you'll find out why that album suits Francis so well (and why the CD was confiscated).

Skive off – Playing hooky.

Mon ami – My friend

Ex-femme – Ex-wife

amour passionneé – Passionate love

Monsieur –Mister. In Serge Gainsbourg's case, one of his nicknames is Monsieur Gainsbourg. The more you know

Mi amigo – My friend

Hombre – Man

Sangria – Wine Punch


	13. Awkward Situations

Alfred was hesitant about walking into the room. He still didn't want to be the guinea pig for the doctors to poke around at like a human sprawled out on an alien examination table in a science fiction movie.

When he entered the room, his eyes shot up at the sight of the PPG technician. The light brunette hair, the fang implants, the strange accent when the clinician had greeted him. It was the same guy who had sex with Arthur in front of him. It was the same guy who just grinned at him while he drank Arthur's blood years ago. And he now worked at Kirkland Institute as a technician – a technician who would be measuring his arousal to pictures. Of course, to the man's right was Arthur. Alfred frowned at the fact that Gilbert didn't mention that the institute owner would also be in the same room during the test.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Jones. You may call me Mr. Lupu." The Romanian extended his hand towards Alfred and was taken aback when Alfred refused to shake his hand, "Anyway, I'm going to be measuring how aroused you get to certain stimuli. I need for you to strip off your pants and underwear for me, please, so we can get started."

"Why is Artie here?" Alfred asked, slowly unbuttoning his pants. The already awkward situation became even more awkward that his own foster parent and the man that his foster parent has had sex with were going to be watching as he done the most privacy-invading test of the entire universe. Even a prostate exam wasn't as personal as a penile plethysmograph.

"Mr. Kirkland usually shows up the first time for an inmate's tests to make notes of how an inmate responds to the test. After that, it would just be us two." The technician explained, hoping that would ease Alfred's anxiety somewhat.

"Don't bother, Constantin," Arthur said, eyebrows furrowed, "Alfred is just being a spiteful git. Let's get this over with so I can get back to my office."

"Right, I agree with Mr. Kirkland," Alfred spat, hastily removing his pants and underwear, "Though this wouldn't be the first time Mr. Lupu has seen the dick of someone from our family."

Constantin clicked his tongue, refusing to even respond for the sake of professionalism. He placed a medical underpad onto the seat where Alfred would be seating. The underpad was for obvious sanitary issues. There have been inmates before who have entered the institute with pubic lice or herpes, so it was better to be safe than sorry. The Romanian checked below the red shirt Alfred was wearing to see if there were any signs that Alfred would be deceptive during the test. Alfred had his legs crossed, trying to preserve the last bit of modesty he had in his current situation. Constantin didn't find any way that Alfred could be deceptive during the test, but he did find something that he wasn't too sure of how it would affect Alfred's test results.

"Arthur, Mr. Jones has two fresh hickeys upon his body. One on his neck and another on his thigh right below his pelvic region," he announced in a professional tone, "would that have any impact upon the results of the test?"

_A hickey on my thigh? _Alfred then remembered how he had gotten the hickey in the first place. Before Gilbert had given attention to his cock, the albino teased the moderately sensitive flesh of his thigh. Just feeling the way the albino suck upon the area inches away from his cock was enough to get his toes to curl and to get him begging for Gilbert to continue. Arthur's voice had broken Alfred from his lustful daze.

"No, it would not," Arthur replied, icily, "even if he had sex with someone today, it wouldn't affect the test in the slightest."

Constantin noticed the emphasis that was placed upon the word "someone." He only wanted to do his job. He didn't want to put in the middle of a family feud between his boss and former sex partner and the foster son of his former sex partner. He gave his next instruction to Alfred getting out a new gauge, hooking it up to the machine, "now I need for you to sit down on the chair and put on this gauge onto the shaft of your penis."

Alfred followed the technician's instructions and sat in the chair. Alfred gingerly grabbed the gauge and slid it onto his length. The gauge felt a bit snug against his length. Constantin slid a table over Alfred's lap and instructed him to rest his hands upon the surface of the table. Alfred did as instructed and watched as Constantin went over to the computer to start up the test.

The first visual that was shown was the image of a woman in her underwear. Alfred wasn't really attracted to women, but he knew that the guys he hung out with in school with would've been all over her. The woman had curves in all of the right places. The woman's skin was well-bronzed and was not an orangish oompa-loompa color like some people with fake tans have had. The woman's red lacy underwear accentuated her curvy body and her tan.

After Alfred was shown a few more pictures of women, he was shown a picture of a man in tight swimming trunks at a beach somewhere. The man was built like a Roman statue. The man's abs were chiseled to perfection. Alfred was both jealous and a bit aroused on how sculpted the man's arms looked. The man's pale pink nipples and pallid skin was like Gilbert's in a way. The man in the picture cupped the bulge in his pants which gave Alfred a couple of ideas of what the man might be packing underneath those trunks.

He was then shown a few more erotic pictures of men, a porn clip of a straight couple having sex on a dining room table, and a porn clip of a gay couple having sex on a bed. The stuff was pretty vanilla as far as porn goes, but the gay porn clip was pretty tantalizing. The next porn clip that was shown to Alfred was a consensual bondage scene. This was Alfred's first time seeing bondage porn, besides the pictures that were in the magazines in Gilbert's side of the room.

In the scene, one of the guys in the porno was handcuffed to the bed while the other guy took in the sight of his lover. Both men looked around the same age as Alfred. The man that was handcuffed begged his lover to touch him. The man complied with his lover's wishes and lightly smacked his lover in the face lightly a few times before littering his lover's body with bites. The man also whacked his lover's naked erection with a riding crop.

Even though Alfred much preferred tender and loving gay porn scenes, the scene on the screen was turning him on. He imagined Gilbert doing the things the couple did on the scene to him. He imagined Gilbert yanking on his hair to get better access to his neck. He imagined Gilbert whipping his entrance with a riding crop. He imagined Gilbert taking control of him, pounding him into a mattress. He imagined that Gilbert's cock was hard and deep inside of him, filling up his anal passage nicely. Alfred bit his lip as his imagination went wild. His cock stirred at the imagery and a moan escaped his throat.

The horror had struck him like an electric line. He was still hooked up to the PPG which was measuring his arousal. He panicked, trying to concentrate on bringing his erection down without touching it. This whole entire situation was lewd and embarrassing. Not to mention that neither Arthur nor Constantin reacted to the situation at all and kept looking between him and the computer. They knew that he was getting aroused from the bondage video and acted like his arousal wasn't a personal matter. The test was pure hell for him!

Alfred rushed back into his room after both tests were over with. His breathing was erratic and his heart pounded in his chest like a drum. The thoughts of Gilbert dominating him were more powerful than ever. His lustful desires clouded his judgment that Gilbert would arrive in the room with him at any moment. He just wanted to get a few moments of self-love or have Gilbert help him tame his animalistic urges. He wanted to – He had to –

Alfred was thankful that was the last arousing thing on the entire test. Though, he had to be subjected to images that he couldn't believe some people actually found arousing; Pictures of children, rape movie scenes, and other deviant scenes that Alfred wished to just forget ever existed.

Alfred quickly realized that he was not alone in the room. He looked over and seen Ivan standing by the desk, leaning casually against the wall. The Russian just smiled at him. His smile was expressionless, which unnerved Alfred somewhat. "Privet, Alfred," He greeted.

"Ah, hi there Ivan," Alfred greeted him back, forcing himself to smile besides his nerves standing on end, "What's up?"

"Not much," Ivan replied, "I was just noticing how much you look like someone from my past is all."

"That's cool. Who do I remind you of?" Alfred asked, inquisitively.

The Russian quickly pulled Alfred towards him and held a tight grip upon Alfred's wrists, "I don't think that particular thing is of any importance to you."

Alfred thrashed around in terror as his adrenaline rose. An overwhelming feeling of dread consumed his thoughts. Cold sweat poured from his brow. Ivan was too close to him for his own comfort and his wrists felt crushed by Ivan's grip. "I-Ivan, you're starting to freak me out and you're crashing my wrists. Let go of me!"

"Don't be too scared, little one. I'll make you feel better," Ivan pressed his lips against Alfred's resisting ones. Alfred struggled again against Ivan's grip, but couldn't break himself free from him. He had no idea what he did for Ivan to believe that he was a willing participant for Ivan's advances, but he did know that he didn't see Ivan in that particular way.

Alfred struggled again. He was surprised when Ivan's weight was lifted off of him. Confused, Alfred looked up and saw Gilbert gripping the back of Ivan's neck, struggling to hold Ivan still. "Alright, you stupid Russian, we can do this one of two ways. You can either keep your hands off of Alfred and leave or I can press that panic button behind us and call the guards in. If you're lucky enough, they'll just send you to isolation and won't chemically neuter you this week." Gilbert proved his point by gesturing towards the panic button with his free hand.

Ivan broke himself from Gilbert and pushed the albino against the wall. Ivan lifted up his fist to take a swing at Gilbert, but a grip on his arm prevented his fist from moving anywhere. Alfred spoke out, trying to sooth the giant, "Ivan! Ivan! Calm down please!"

Ivan turned towards Alfred and smiled that same emotionless smile as before, "you're right, Alfred. If I get put in isolation, it'll interrupt our time together." Alfred nodded hastily, trying to get Ivan to calm down and leave. Ivan patted Alfred's head lightly and continued, "I'll see you at dinner, my little sunflower."

Alfred watched as Ivan exited out of the room, the Russian's scarf billowing behind him like a tail. He turned his head towards Gilbert, concerned about his safety. "Are you alright, Gilbert?"

"My back is a little sore," Gilbert admitted, "other than that, I'm not going to let one stupid asshole get the better of the awesome me!"

"At least you're back to normal," Alfred smiled at his comment.

A day had passed since the incident with Ivan. Alfred was willing to forgive the Russian for the mishap that happened a day before. He knew that Ivan was mentally unstable and it was possible that Ivan didn't know how get someone's consent. _Yeah, that was it . . . Ivan and I just got our wires crossed. That's all! _He figured that he could forgive the Russian for what happened. Despite his black shirt, Ivan didn't seem like a monster to him. Maybe he was misunderstood?

It was just about time for them to see Gilbert's cousin. Alfred still didn't feel right about a mysterious man paying for his attorney, but it was becoming more and more obvious that he still didn't have a choice in the matter. Alfred swallowed what little pride he had and walked towards the visitors lounge. Gilbert had given him directions before the albino headed towards the art room to work on some kind of project that consumed some of his free time.

Alfred peered inside while he waited for Gilbert to get done in the art room. The visitor's room actually surprised the nineteen year old. The furniture inside of the lounge looked like it belonged in a modern art museum than at Kirkland Institute. The room was painted a vivid shade of aqua. The sofas in the sofa had a pop art pattern to them that Alfred couldn't help but notice. The oddly shaped coffee tables in the room were as eccentric looking as the sofas.

The only one in the room was a brunette man who lounged upon one of the sofas. The man donned fine clothing and a disinterested look upon his face. Classical music blared from the man's headphones. Alfred recognized the song as _Voices of Spring Waltz_ by Johann Strauss II. Back in his childhood, Alfred was forced to take piano lessons and that song was the one his piano teacher kept trying to get him to listen to in order to understand the feel of classical music. All it did was bore Alfred to death. In the end, Alfred didn't learn anything except for the name of one classical song. Had the man in the lounge listened to another classical song, Alfred wouldn't recognize it.

Suddenly Alfred felt someone grasp onto his hips and pull him close against their frame. Alfred turned towards his captor and grinned playfully when he had seen his captor's bright red eyes. Gilbert's expression mirrored Alfred's own as he leaned to playfully push Alfred into the door and hungrily caught Alfred's lips with his own. Alfred kissed Gilbert back with much fervor, catching Gilbert's bottom lip between his teeth and withdraws from his mouth. Gilbert grinded his pelvis against Alfred's, feeling Alfred's shaft throb against him. Gilbert leaned against the hollow of Alfred's neck and grinned, "You're pretty eager today, birdie."

Alfred only moaned in response. They suddenly pulled apart when they heard knocking at the door where they were making out by. An accented hiss came out from the other side of the door, "Excuse me, you pompous ass! Some of us have a wife and dinner to get home to! Hurry up!" To Alfred, the accent the man had sounded close to Gilbert's own German accent, but there was something a bit off about the man's accent that Alfred couldn't place his finger on.

"Alright, I'll hurry up. I wouldn't want to become in between you and your precious cake," Gilbert quipped.

Roderich only huffed as a response, looking Alfred up and down, making the blond wave at him in return. He quickly turned to Gilbert, raising an eyebrow at him, "a little young for you, isn't he? How old is this kid? He doesn't look any older than twenty."

"He's nineteen years old, Roderich. So what?"

Roderich refused to answer what the problem he saw with Gilbert going out with someone that is almost a decade younger than him. He couldn't help but notice the way his cousin hovered over Alfred, caressed the younger blond, and held the blond close. He chose to ignore it for the sake of time and his own unwillingness to question Gilbert more about his relationship with Alfred.

"Hello, I'm Roderich Edelstein, Gilbert's cousin." Roderich extended his hand towards Alfred and shook hands with the younger man. "I'm going to be the one who is going to help hook you up with a good attorney." Roderich ordered his cousin out of the room so that he could speak to Alfred alone. The case really was none of Gilbert's business at this point.

"Hey Rod! I'll pay you back as soon as I can. It'll probably as soon as I can leave this place." Alfred sat down on one of the sofas. "I'm Alfred F. Jones by the way."

Shock washed across Roderich's face. He was helping out Alfred F. Jones? The institute's owner's adopted son? To say that the local news ate up the Jones sexual assault case like hot cakes was an understatement. If Alfred had been another teenage boy fresh out of high school, the case probably wouldn't have caused much of a stir. However, Alfred is the adopted son of an institute owner who specialized in treating sex offenders, an adopted son who was charged with raping his twin brother. It made local headlines.

"Well, A-Alfred," Roderich finally spoke up after a moment of stunned silence, "you care to tell me what exactly happened?"

"Well, my brother and I went to a party. Matthew and I got split up at the party and I went to get drunk to celebrate graduating from high school. After a while, I got worried about Matthew and went to look for him. W-When I found him, he was unconscious an-an-and he was bleeding. I wrapped him in the bloody sheets and called the cops. Then I took him into the bathroom to clean him up. I couldn't stand to see him covered in b-b-blood down there." Alfred choked up when he explained it to Roderich. "Arthur got pissed that I was being charged with my brother's rape and refused to hire a good lawyer for me and my shitty public defender barely argued my side."

Roderich just nodded at what Alfred had told him. This was going to be one interesting case. He only hoped that Gilbert's old defense attorney would be able to handle the media pressure that most likely would occur. "I'm going to hire Gilbert's old attorney for you. However, you would need to think back if there was anyone in particular from school, your neighborhood, or anywhere else that had given your brother a hard time or came onto to him too strong. Also, you need to think back to that night to see if there is anything that could help you with your case."

"You think they did it?" Alfred asked, remembering three boys who had sexually harassed his brother throughout their years in high school. He remembered one incident in their sophomore year where the three boys had held down his brother behind the school near the softball field. Well, two of the boys held Matthew down and the other reached into their book bag and whipped out a dildo in front of his twin's face. Alfred and one of the gym teachers had rushed to Matthew's aid before the boys had a chance to do anything and the three boys were suspended for a month. Those three boys were also at that party . . .

"Well, that would be a matter you would need to discuss with your attorney," Roderich simply stated. He wasn't sure who Alfred was talking about, but he was sure that he would probably find out later who Alfred was referring to. The Austrian-American pulled out a form he typed up at home, "I just need you to fill this out for me, okay Alfred? As you clearly can read, it's a contract between us that states that you would pay me back in the future when you get out of here. I typed it yesterday."

Alfred looks over the contract and signs it, entering into an agreement with a guy he was barely acquainted with. It seemed to just the beginning of Alfred getting his life back. Alfred sat and wondered what would happen from there.

* * *

Constantin Lupu is Romania, just in case some of you were confused on who he was.


	14. Feliciana's Pregnancy

A month had passed since he and Alfred had talked to Gilbert's cousin about paying an attorney to represent him. A tremendous weight was lifted off of both of their shoulders when the lawyer helped Alfred submit his appeal before the deadline. Although Alfred's legal headache was far from over. It would take months before the legal process officially starts.

Arthur had barely spoken to Alfred outside of group therapy. Gilbert tried his damndest to see why Arthur was so uptight over the two of them dating. Sure, he could understand that most parents have high hopes of their little precious angels dating a doctor, a lawyer, or an astronaut. No parent wakes up one morning and says that they want their children to date a convicted rapist. However, one would expect Arthur to mellow out over it since he believes that Alfred was rightfully convicted of his brother's rape. Hey, at least Alfred wasn't dating someone like Ivan Braginsky.

Speaking of which, he haven't seen Ivan pull any more stunts since the day he had to pull the bulky Russian off of Alfred. Even though he was relieved that Ivan hasn't pulled any more creepy stunts, he was still irked whenever Ivan socialized with the American. The mere fact that Ivan called Alfred his "sunflower" sent his worries into overdrive. The mental images of Alfred being raped in pool of his own blood by the sadistic man made Gilbert physically ill.

Gilbert still didn't get a chance to consummate his relationship with Alfred yet. Gilbert's own body and treacherous hard-on made him crave the blonde's touch. However, the memories of the looks his brother had given him the night he forced him to have sex and the harsh things his brother said to him as he was getting arrested was not something the Gilbert wished to relive.

Gilbert was quick at work with a new artwork to pass the time. He tried to get Alfred in the art room a few times, but the blond preferred making model planes. So far all Gilbert had completed was the outline of the words "I Want to Believe." He couldn't churn out artwork as fast as the art room coordinator could.

The Italian woman was surprisingly not there to supervise the inmates. In her place was the effeminate Polish guard, Feliks. The Polish guy had the same art skills of the typical high school brat, but Gilbert could tell what the guy was drawing. Barn animals seemed to be the subject of Feliks' art. Goats and sheep were in the background of the Polish man's painting. In front of the goats and sheep was a brown galloping horse.

Gilbert also found it strange that Elizabeta wasn't around either. Feliciana's absence was a bit obvious since she announced that she was pregnant last month. For all he knew, Feliciana was having morning sickness and had to miss work. It was understandable. Some of the inmates around him noticed that Feliciana's breasts were starting to become fuller or as they put it so eloquently: "Feliciana is starting to get nice pair of jugs."

However, Elizabeta's absence was more mysterious. She wasn't pregnant as far as Gilbert had known. So where was the brunette counselor? Gilbert immediately thought of his cousin, Roderich. The Austria-born trust fund adult baby was pretty useless at everything that didn't include music, art, cleaning up after himself, or baking cake. Roderich can barely cook for himself, is a cheapskate even when his own health is concerned, and loses physical fights quite easily. Gilbert figured the high-strung Austrian was what kept Elizabeta from work today

Even though Roderich was a cheapskate, he isn't one when it comes to legal matters. Gilbert was able to plead out on the rape charge due to the lawyer Roderich hired for him. While pleading out on a rape charge isn't a cakewalk, it is compared to what he would have to serve for both rape and incest.

He wondered how differently his life would've been if he didn't spend years obsessing over his own brother, if he didn't get kicked out of his aunt and uncle's house, or if he didn't get ensnared by the opportunistic fuck who pimped him out and used him as a little errand boy. Though, as bad as they were, these events were still the things had led him to knowing Alfred.

Alfred was the glimmer of light within Gilbert's life at the moment. Being around the blond is like a power high from a potent drug. He found himself euphoric whenever he was around Alfred. A feeling he never knew that he could ever feel before. Whenever he was around Alfred, he was laughing heartily at the blonde's jokes, feeling up on him, or prattling away about whatever topic that came to mind. Who knew that one man barely in his twenties could affect him so much within the month that they have met each other?

As he walked out of the art room, he heard a familiar spurting and coughing from the bathroom. Gilbert gently opened the heavy door steel door to find his well-tanned brunette friend hunched over the sink, gargling water and hastily spitting it out. The albino stepped closer and noticed the dark purple swelling around Antonio's left eye.

"Jesus Christus, Antonio! What the fuck happened?" Gilbert quickly turned Antonio around, unknowing squeezing Antonio's arms too tight. His eyes bore into Antonio's. Antonio was trying to avoid his gaze.

"Mind your own business, Gilbert," Antonio spoke barely above a whisper. He struggled against Gilbert's tight hold and sighed, giving in to the albino. "I ran into a couple of red shirt assholes and they did this to me." Antonio points to his black eye.

Gilbert frowned, "who are they? I'll return the favor by punching their smug faces in."

"Drop it, Gilbert!" Antonio snapped, "You'll just make problems worse. Just . . . drop it. Okay? I'll be alright."

Gilbert groaned, irritated by Antonio's stubbornness. "Fine! Did they do anything else to you?"

"No, they didn't," Antonio released himself from his friend's grip. Gilbert didn't believe a word Antonio told him. A shiver ran down Gilbert's spine. There was something his friend was not telling him and he was scared for his friend over whatever Antonio wasn't disclosing to him. While the Kirkland Institute was safer than actual prison, there were still numerous dangers in the concrete building that could happen to an inmate.

The flowers within Feliciana's and Ludwig's yard were full bloom outside after the rain had come and gone throughout the month. Ludwig swore that the rain had come every other day. Feliciana's tomato garden had grown quite beautifully. The pregnant woman swore that they would have enough tomatoes to last them throughout the winter. Right next to Feliciana's tomato garden was Ludwig's potato garden. Like the tomatoes, the potato plants seemed to be growing adequately.

Ludwig was quite apprehensive over the events that would happen later on in the evening. Feliciana and he were planning on revealing her pregnancy to their families. Luckily for them, it would be only a small get-together. The only ones Ludwig expected to show up were Roderich, Elizabeta, Feliciana's grandfather, and her twin brother. Ludwig wondered what Feliciana's grandpa was like. With Feliciana's cluelessness and Romano's aggression, Ludwig was a bit hesitant about meeting the man. However, he did knock up the man's granddaughter and been in a relationship with her for several months, so it was the right thing to do.

All of his concentration was on a romantic novel that he bought from a garage sale within their neighborhood. At the cheap price of 25 cents per novel, Ludwig couldn't help, but to buy a few books from the old lady at the picnic table in the driveway who had a calculator, a notebook, and her purse in front of her to keep track of purchases.

Ludwig suddenly felt a weight on his thighs. He looked up and seen Feliciana in her bright yellow sundress. The Italian woman had her panties wrapped around one of her ankles and was pressing her womanhood into the fabric of his jeans. The German groaned loudly and tried to gently push his lover off of him. "Feliciana! Feliciana! We're outside for God's sake! Someone might see us!"

"But I need you, Ludwig! Please, I need you so bad right now." Feliciana whined as she ground herself against him again.

"Alright fine," Ludwig couldn't help but to find his lover's begging adorable. He set his book down and gave her a peck on the cheek. "You know, I don't mind you begging so sweetly for me." He captured her lips with his own and explored the moist cavern of her mouth with his tongue. She moaned into his mouth when Ludwig reached under her dress to play with the sensitive folds of her pussy.

She gingerly undid his jeans, so she could give Ludwig's throbbing member as much attention as she was receiving. She blushed when Ludwig commented on how wet she was. After a while of stroking him, she moved herself closer to Ludwig to align her vagina against Ludwig's thick, erect member. Ludwig placed a hand on her shoulder, "why don't we go inside, Feliciana? You'll be more comfortable on the couch than out here."

Feliciana only nodded and she led Ludwig to the living room, groping on his engorged manhood as they walked into the house. Feliciana wasted no time flopping down on the couch. She spread her legs out and lifted up her sundress to give her German lover a tantalizing view of her genitalia. Ludwig leaned near the pink flesh between her legs and teased her clitoris. He could smell the sweet smell of the pomegranate lotion that she used on her thighs and legs. She moaned loudly and ran her slender fingers through Ludwig's short blond locks.

Ludwig pulled away when he knew that they were both ready for more. He gave himself a couple of teasing strokes to get himself more erect. He aligned himself against Feliciana's entrance, gently thrusting into her tight heat.

Feliciana let out a small, contented moan to let Ludwig that she loved the feeling of him inside of her. She noticed that whenever they had sex, Ludwig had always acted hesitant when he first thrust inside her like he was scared of hurting her. The only conclusion that Feliciana could come up with is that she was shorter than Ludwig was and he was afraid of breaking her in half. She gently rocked against his body to feel as much of his cock within her as possible. Ludwig met her thrusts with his own, setting the rhythm to their sensual dance.

Ludwig loved making love to her. He loved the feeling of closeness they both had and the mutual pleasure of the act. He adored all of the cute moans she made and the way her face looked as she called his name during her peak. However, he couldn't get the idea out of his head that he could hurt her if he wasn't too careful.

Suddenly a familiar voice interrupted their lovemaking. "What the hell are you doing to my sister, you German bastard! Are you trying to get my idiot sister pregnant with your –your potato inhaling spawn?!"

Ludwig rushed to make them both more decent by pulling himself out of Feliciana, pulling Feliciana's dress down, and zipping himself up. His cheeks were as red as the pizza sauce of Romano's homemade everything pizza that he brought with. Wasn't their family members supposed to drop by later? _How the devil did they even get in?_ Ludwig groaned with annoyance, realizing that Feliciana forgot to lock the door again.

He glanced around nervously to see everyone's expressions. His cousin, Roderich was blushing as much as he was and turned away from the sight. It almost seemed like his cousin was trying to use every single ounce of his subpar acting ability to hide his embarrassment by the scene and set the chocolate cake in the kitchen alongside Elizabeta's goulash and a pan containing nut tart slices that someone else had brought.

Elizabeta grinned at them both, trying to suppress her giggle at witnessing them both having sex on the couch. Ludwig doubted that anyone would want to sit down there after that while they were there, which was fine by him. Elizabeta finally stopped giggling. Her giggles were not out of maliciousness, but out of her own love of the perverse nature of the situation. Ludwig couldn't help but be reminded of a schoolgirl who found her mother's secret stash.

Ludwig then looked towards the person that he guessed to be Feliciana's grandpa. The man gave Ludwig a friendly wave. The man didn't look a day over forty. The man still had a full set of curly brunette hair. His face was clean shaven and his body was built like a Roman gladiator. Ludwig felt a tinge of jealously from the man's perfect physique.

"Don't be silly, Lovino!" Feliciana replied happily as she sat up, seeing her brother set the pizza on the counter in the kitchen "Ludwig wouldn't be able to impregnate me right now."

"Oh good, you finally came to your senses and got on the pill," Romano mumbled and reached into his pocket. He threw the white silky panties from his pocket at his sister. "Put these on, please! I found them out of the deck.

Feliciana quickly slid on her underwear, ignoring the people around her, "Romano, I'm not on the pill. I can't get pregnant, because I'm already pregnant! Isn't it absolutely wonderful, Romano? You're going to be a zio!" When Feliciana made her announcement, the conversations in the room had ceased and everyone was left staring at her and Ludwig.

* * *

Zio - Uncle


	15. Awkward Party

Romano's voice boomed throughout the entire house. The Italian male scrambled to break free from the hold his grandfather had on his waist. "Alright, Mr. Studly! As soon as I break free, your face is going to be introduced to my fist! I'll hurt you so bad that it'll look like a mafia hit!"

"Calm down, Romano," The twins' grandfather chided as he tightened his grip on his struggling grandson.

"Like hell I will!" Romano snapped, still struggling against his grandfather.

The older Italian male just tightened his grip on his grandson and smiled pleasantly at the muscular man who had impregnated his granddaughter. "Hello." He released Romano once the younger man stopped struggling to get at the blond. Romano flopped out on one of the chairs and huffed, muttering about `good-for-nothing Germans.' The twins' grandfather continued, "So you're German?"

"Ja," Ludwig nodded awkwardly.

"I had a business partner years ago that was from Germany," The Italian reminisced, "he was such a serious man and his wife was a very bulky woman. She wasn't fat, but she was almost as buff as you are. I sometimes wonder if that woman took steroids."

"Uh huh," Ludwig nodded, halfway listening to the older Italian.

"So, I never did catch what your name is," Alexander replied.

"Oh," Ludwig extended his hand out towards the man. "I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt. It's nice to meet your acquaintance. "

"I'm Alexander," he shook Ludwig's hand and pulled Ludwig towards him in a halfway hug. Some people referred to the kind of hug as a "masculine hug." Alexander withdrew from him, smirking, "you're pretty strong. I bet women chased you down the block just to go out with you."

"Actually sir, I tend to keep to myself. I wouldn't know if there had been girls chasing me, other than Feliciana," Ludwig answered honestly.

"Get out!" Alexander exclaimed, "Don't tell me that you were a virgin when you got with my darling little tomato."

Ludwig blushed brightly. The man's question was too personal for his tastes. "I haven't been with any woman before Feliciana."

"So you swing for both teams? It's nothing to be ashamed of. I had known a couple Pananiri types back in the day who were gay. They were as lucky with men as I was with women."

"Nein!" Ludwig's blush reddened, "I'm only attracted to women."

Alexander's eyes glistened as he hugged Ludwig. The German let out an undignified squeak as the old Italian man hugged him. Ludwig tried to pull away from the man's tight hug, but couldn't break out of the man's hold. "You're a saint! When I was your age I bedded hundreds of gorgeous women until I met Feliciana's and Romano's grandmother."

"I'm a saint, right," Ludwig muttered.

"So what do you do for a living, Ludwig?"

"Well, I was a car mechanic for a while, but now I'm unemployed," Ludwig replied, not wanting to go into much detail of why he was fired. He noticed the Italian man looking at him, "I'm pretty much Feliciana's house-husband. I take care of everything that needs to be cleaned or fixed."

"Nothing to be too ashamed of," Alexander patted him on the shoulder. Romano muttered again about how house-husband was just another word for mooch. Alexander continued after Ludwig shot Romano a dirty look, "I'm quite aware how bad the economy is at the moment. I've got to admit, you do a lovely job at taking care of this home."

"Thank you, sir." Ludwig replied, trying not to fidget in front of the Vargas patriarch.

"Ludwig cleans this place all of the time," Feliciana chimed in, "he's always wiping down everything in the whole house. I even saw him wiping down the walls in the kitchen once."

"Is that so?" Alexander chuckled quietly, "so Ludwig, do you have any siblings?"

"No, I don't. I'm an only child," Ludwig lied, tilting his head to the side to avoid the man's gaze. Instead he met the unreadable expression on his cousin's face. Pangs of guilt ate away at his consciousness. He had lied to Feliciana. He had lied to her family that he was trying to impress. Maybe it wasn't a complete lie. As far as Ludwig was concerned, Gilbert was no longer his sibling. Gilbert was just someone that he used to know and trust.

Cold sweat dripped from his brow. Even though the only ones in the room who knew that his statement about being an only child was Roderich, Elizabeta, and himself, he still felt uneasy about having to lie to them. His paranoia had him convinced that everyone in the room knew of the lie, even though the notion was completely irrational. Ludwig watched everyone in silence, hoping that Feliciania's grandfather wouldn't ask any more awkward questions.

Delicate hands had gripped the steering wheel, as he navigated his way through the darkened highway. Roderich was driving him and Elizabeta back home. He wasn't good at remembering car models, unlike his cousins, but he at least knew that his own car was a six year old silver Escalade. The car seemed a bit too roomy for his liking, but Elizabeta convinced him to purchase it by telling him that he had enough room for his instruments and possibly a car seat if she ended up pregnant.

Having a child was actually the furthest thing from either of their minds. They both worked to support each other and probably wouldn't have the time or the energy to care for one. Ludwig and Feliciana seemed so content and carefree at the party, except for when the topic of siblings came up.

Roderich was still very conflicted on the topic of children. Sure, having a child with Elizabeta would be nice and the child would grow up into a household filled with peace and love. However, it always came back to their careers and who would take care of the baby. Sure, Elizabeta made more than him, but she would have to take a maternity leave in order to have a baby. The fact that Elizabeta and he had made love more than few times without protection also adds into the possibility that they could end up with children someday.

He smiled warmly at his wife, "you know, Ludwig and Feliciana seemed like they would be wonderful parents. It's wonderful seeing him with someone that really seems to love him so much."

"Keep your eyes on the road, dear," The Hungarian softly chided, "yeah, Feliciana does bring out the best in Ludwig. I just wish that Ludwig would tell Feliciana about Gilbert."

"We both know why he wouldn't," Roderich made a left hand turn on the road.

"I know. It's just . . . I don't know," Elizabeta shrugged and quickly changed the subject, "when is that concert going to be? The one you have tickets for."

"You mean the one that is going to have some of the best musicians in town playing famous songs from the Baroque era? It's at the end of this month."

"Sounds like fun," Elizabeta replied, smirking a bit when she heard her husband mutter softly that it should've been him performing Toccata and Suite in front of hundreds of people.

* * *

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in while. I've been kind of busy.

Pananari/Paninaro: A 1980s youth subculture in Italy.


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